Second Chances
by Skarsgaard
Summary: Six years after his death, Angeal is kicked back to the Planet, where he is picked up by one Cloud Strife and starts life anew with the AVALANCHE family. Set one year after VII
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello everyone. This is my first Final Fantasy story, and I've sadly never played any of the games yet, just watched all the cutscenes, so be easy on me. I will try my very hardest to keep everyone in character the best I can. Browsing through all the fics on here, I noticed that there were hardly any Angeal fics that were not slash, and there are some seriously weird pairings out there with Tifa and Yuffie 0_o. Anyways, I will stop rambling on and let you get to the reading. Reviews, as always are greatly appreciated. Flames will be used to roast marshmellows.**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything, no matter how much I want to.

Fenrir roared down the dusty road heading back to Midgar, rocks and gravel kicking up behind him. Cloud handled the bike with practiced ease, gliding around corners turns as if he were on pavement. The past months after defeating Sephiroth…again, had been busy with Tifa helping Cloud set up his delivery business. So far he was doing rather well with his little venture, the extra money helping out Tifa and the kids, not to mention his guilt of free loading.

He rounded a bend and came out onto the flat stretch before Midgar, giving Fenrir more gas and streaking down the road. Cloud loved the feeling of the wind in his face and hair, pulling on his clothes. It made him feel free and unburdened by his past and unafraid of his future, if only for a few hours. Cloud shook his head to free his mind of wandering thoughts. Spacing out on the road was something Tifa was constantly getting after him for and his lips quirked a little at the thought. Tifa, hands on her hips, lecturing him.

Dragging his mind back to the road once more, he noticed something along side the road ahead of him. It looked like a large dead animal, possibly it had been hit by a truck. He squinted through his goggles and leaned forward on the bike to get a better view, even though he was speeding towards it, getting closer with every second.

Something in his gut made him stop before he passed it, although he wasn't sure why. A dead animal was a dead animal, nothing could be done other than cover your nose at the stench. As Fenrir rolled to a rumbling stop, Cloud frowned. That was no dead animal. It was a man, a man with a broad back and black hair.

"Zack…" was the first word out of his mouth as he jumped off Fenrir and ran to the body, his heart pounding in his chest.

His hopes continued to climb when he saw the SOLDIER First Class uniform on the body as he fell to his knees in the soft roadside soil and pulled the heavy man over to his back. He was definitely a SOLDIER; hard shoulder paldrons, stomach bracer and its leather suspenders, sleeveless sweater and heavy cargo pants with two belts.

"Za…this…isn't Zack…" Deep inside, he knew it wouldn't be his long gone friend, no matter how much he had wished it to be.

Cloud frowned a little as he studied the strong, dirty face. It seemed vaguely familiar and then there was the question of why a First Class SOLDIER was laying along a road outside Midgar. All the First's were dead and gone. Supposedly anyways.

While the gears were squeaking in Cloud's brain, the man groaned slightly and cracked a eye open, only to slam it shut at the blinding sun. Last thing he remembered was floating peacefully in the Lifestream, then suddenly hurtling towards Gaia like a falling asteroid and making contact with the hard ground. After that he had blacked out and now someone had rolled his aching body over and was muttering to themselves. One thing he was sure of; this was surely Zack's doing.

A shadow came across his face and he cracked his eyes open again, to see bright blue eyes and gravity defying hair.

"Oh…you're…alive?"

The man's brows lowered into a frown and he nodded slowly, so as not to rattle his aching head to much. He was sure he had seen that hair somewhere, a cadet maybe? A friend of Zack's? It was possible, he had lost track of how many friends Zack had told him about and showed him pictures of. He stopped that train of thought with a frown. Cadet? Zack? Who was Zack and what were cadets? The Lifestream…if he had been in the Lifestream, then he must have died, but when and how? And why? It was as if he was groping through fog for something he knew was there, but it kept eluding him. He knew he should know who Zack was and what cadets where, why he had died and how, however he couldn't quite get his mind around it.

"Uh…" Cloud frowned back, "Who are you?"

"Angeal. Angeal Hewely."

At least he knew his name…

**I hope you enjoyed reading and that it wasn't to terrible so far. .**


	2. Chapter 2

** A/N: Here we go with an update. Considerable amount of dialouge in this chapter, hope I do the character's justice. Many thanks to Kazzlar, Alma Heart and Paladingrats for their awesome reviews. Enjoy~**

**Disclaimer:** Don't own anything.

** Chapter Two**

The remaining ride to Edge was awkward at best. Cloud hadn't exactly had much of a growth spurt over the past six years, and Angeal certainly hadn't lost bulk or height in the Lifestream, leaving Cloud hunched over Fenrir with Angeal looming behind him. After introducing himself, Cloud remembered the former First, that he had been Zack's mentor, the one who had given Zack the Buster sword which now was rusting on a cliff. His conscience gave a twinge and he sighed to himself as another thought assaulted his mind. What was Tifa going to say when he came home dragging an ex-SOLDIER in? Make him welcome obviously, smile that warm smile, feed him, give him a place to sleep and then chew Cloud out later, saying that he couldn't just bring home people like lost puppies. People ate food which cost gil. Gil that they didn't have to waste.

There was always the possibility that she wouldn't say anything to Cloud at all, besides asking how, where and why. He hoped this was the case. Getting chewed out by Tifa made him want to move away and become a hermit or something. Worst of it was, she was always right.

"Midgar's changed."

Angeal's voice next to his head jerked Cloud from his fitful ponderings and nearly made him swerve off the road.

"At least I think it has. I don't seem to remember what it looked like before."

Talking to the person behind you, was never an easy task, as the wind carried your words away and you had to turn your head slightly, so Cloud replied with a head bob, slowing down as he came into the new city of Edge on the outskirts.

While Cloud had been pondering Tifa's possible reactions, Angeal had been lost in his own thoughts, mainly why he had been kicked out of the Lifestream. Cloud, had informed him that Zack had been his friend and Angeal's student, which cleared up that issue for the time being, although he didn't recall much about his former, now dead student. Either way, he had been sad to hear he had died, gunned down by his own company. Angeal might not have remembered much, but his sense of honor was still strong, and being gunned down by your own company, the very people you dedicated yourself to was just so dis-honorable, it was downright vile. He drew his brows together and gave a firm nod of his head at these thoughts, then turned his focus to the looming city ahead of them. Midgar. Cloud had informed him that Midgar was where he had worked, as SOLDIER for Shin-RA Power Company. Why a power company needed a military, he wasn't quite sure but it would no doubt come back to him, in time.

Cloud guided Fenrir down the bustling streets to the re-built 7th Heaven and let the bike idle for a moment before getting off. Angeal was busy looking around, the ruins of Midgar visible in the distance.

"What happened?" he questioned, bringing his gaze down to Cloud.

"Meteor. Sephiroth summoned it…"

Angeal gave a half nod, still frowning a little, then turned his attention to the building they were parked at. '7th Heaven' the sign said.

"You live at a bar?"

Cloud gave a simple bob of his head, "It's not my bar…I just live here and run my delivery service from here." he explained, walking up the steps and putting his hand on the doorknob, motioning for Angeal to follow.

Angeal did so, dismounting Fenrir stiffly, holding a groan in the back of his throat as he followed Cloud to the door, taking in his surroundings with interest. The cityscape was certainly…different. New construction made from parts of the old city, what was gone helping bring life back. Angeal brought his eyes back to Cloud who was opening the door and going in….he seemed a bit tense.

At the sound of the door unlocking and opening, Tifa looked up from washing and putting away glasses, a warm smile on her face for Cloud. She hung the towel up and came around the bar to meet him.

"Cloud, you're back early. I didn't expect you until tomorr-" she faltered as Angeal loomed in the doorway behind Cloud.

Cloud gave Tifa a sheepish and stepped aside "This is Angeal…I…picked him up in the desert."

Angeal found himself being propelled inside by a warm hand on his arm, the busty young woman pulling him in without question or hesitation.

"Would you like something to drink, Angeal? You must be thirsty after that ride. I'm Tifa by the way." Tifa said, sitting Angeal on a barstool and going behind the counter to get him a bottle of water, shooting Cloud a 'We will talk later' look.

Cloud looked at his boots and slunk upstairs to put his delivery receipts away in his office, figuring maybe it was best if he stayed out of Tifa's reach for the time being. He was already feeling guilty about bringing Angeal home with him, maybe he should have just left him with someone else. But he really had no idea who, no one lived near by that he could leave him with.

"This is a very nice bar you have, Tifa." Angeal complimented, getting comfortable on the barstool and taking a long drink of the cold water Tifa had provided him with.

"Thanks. It's much nicer than the original one was." she said with a nod and smile, putting the dried glasses away.

Angeal looked around with a nod "The original?"

"It was in Sector Seven." Tifa said, assuming he knew.

"Tifa." Cloud said from the bottom of the stairs. He didn't want to have this conversation now, but Tifa needed to know about Angeal.

Tifa looked over at Cloud for a moment, then hung her towel back up and bowed her head to Angeal,

"Excuse me for a moment." Angeal nodded his head and returned to his ice water.

Cloud shook his head at Tifa's questioning look and turned, going back up to his office, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Tifa was following. She paused at the bottom of the stairs for a moment before trailing after him, a puzzled look on her face.

"What's this about Cloud?" she asked once they were in his office with the door shut. Tifa let her arms hang at her sides, so as not to come off as defensive or angry.

With a soft sigh Cloud sat on the edge of the desk, keeping his gaze on the ground while he organized his thoughts before speaking. It was never a wise idea to go into verbal battle with Tifa if your thoughts were unorganized.

"Angeal…was a First Class SOLDIER. He was Zack's mentor…"

Tifa gave a little frown and went to Cloud's side, sitting beside him. She got the feeling that Cloud was very guilty about bringing this man home with him and in truth, she had been prepared to tell him her feelings on the subject. But if Angeal had been the mentor and friend of Zack's, she would let him stay without a word. It was the least she could do in a round about thank you to Zack, for saving Cloud's life.

"I see. Cloud…I thought the Firsts were all dead."

Cloud slowly looked at her. She wasn't mad at him? No lecture about bringing home stray men that they couldn't afford to feed and house? Odd…

"He was sent back to the Planet…I think…he's being given a second chance…maybe to live a normal life."

"Well, I suppose he can sleep on the couch, or I can make up a bed in here for him on the cot."

Tifa stood with a nod and put her finger on her chin while she thought of blankets, sheets and pillows for their new guest. Cloud blinked at her and stood as well,

"You're not…"

"Upset?" she finished for him, "No…No not anymore. I was, but…Angeal is welcome here as much as your friend Zack would have been. Now go downstairs and show him around. He'll probably want a shower. I don't have any clean clothes that would fit him, but I can wash the ones he has on while he's in the shower." Tifa gave a firm head nod and left the room to gather bedding and prepare a place for Angeal to sleep.

Cloud stared at the place she had been standing, then slowly headed back downstairs to show Angeal around. In their absence, Angeal had walked around the bar, looking at the all the pictures on the wall. He had always loved nature and the outdoors so the pictures were of particular interest to him. It was certainly a different bar, not that he had been to many bars before, Angeal wasn't much of a drinker, a beer now and then was the most he ever had. It was very homey and comfortable, certainly fitting of the name, 7th Heaven. He imagined business must have been pretty good for the pretty young woman, Tifa.

Tifa had said that the original bar had been in Sector Seven and Angeal figured that it must have been destroyed by Meteor. Sephiroth…He frowned and folded his arms, thinking hard. The name had importance to him but why? Maybe he had known this horrible man who had tried to destroy the Planet. Did his presumed association with Sephiroth make him a monster as well?

"Angeal, Tifa asked me to show you around…while she's preparing you a place to sleep."

Cloud's voice pulled Angeal from his mental wanderings and back to the present. He looked down at Cloud and nodded, unfolding his arms.

"I don't want to be an inconvenience to you or Tifa…"

"You're not…you're welcome here. Tifa…thrives on helping people." Cloud said, shuffling his feet a little. "Um well…this is the bar."

Angeal gave a chuckle, "It's a very nice bar. What happened to the original? Was it destroyed by Meteor as well?"

"No…when Shin-Ra dropped the plate."

"Shin-Ra…the company I worked for?"

Cloud nodded and turned to the stairs, "Come on, we can talk more later…Tifa said you can shower…she'll wash your clothes while you're getting clean."

Angeal followed him up the stairs, taking in more photographs on the wall, "Thank you. I'm sure I don't smell all that great."

"No problem. This is my office…over there is the two bedrooms, um…the bathroom is there…living room. I'm not sure where Tifa will put you…" Cloud explained, pointing out the rooms from the hall, "Oh…hold on." the phone started ringing and he moved into his office to answer it.

"Alright." Angeal replied, standing in the hall and looking around. It was simple, but cozy and suited his tastes just right. Angeal had never like excess or unnecessary 'comforts'. Simple was always best, but like he said, he was a cheap man. How he ever came to be friends with the richest man in Banora's son, was beyond him. He smiled a little. Apparently he didn't loose any memories of his childhood…he wondered what had become of Genesis.

Was he still in Banora or had he came to Midgar with Angeal? And what of his mother, Gillian? He couldn't remember how long it had been since he had seen her. How long had he been dead anyways? What year was it? His mind spun with questions that he hoped he could find the answers to and he looked forward to learning more from Cloud later on.

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey guys. Sorry for the long wait between updates, I got stuck at college orientation with no internet for four days, and I'm struggling a bit. Angeal is pretty hard to write because he talks so casually...its hard making that come out on paper right. But I'm trying anyways, hope it's not to terrible. This chapter is short, hopefully the next one will be longer. And thank you so much for the reviews and favs, they mean alot to me. **

**Disclaimer:** Don't own anything.

**Chapter Three**

"Why are you standing here in the middle of the hall?"

Angeal looked down at Tifa and nodded to the office, "Cloud, had a phone call."

Tifa smiled, "Well, I made you up a bed on the couch, I hope that's ok. It's right in here." she said, leading Angeal into the small living area and showing him the old but comfortable couch.

"Thank you. I'm sure I've…slept in much worse places."

"I bet you have." Tifa smiled, "Here are some towels, Cloud showed you the bathroom?"

Angeal nodded, "Yeah, he did. Would you mind if I…showered now?"

"Not at all. Just put your clothes outside the door and I'll wash them for you." Tifa flicked on the bathroom light for Angeal and stepped out, "Use as much hot water as you need."

Angeal stepped into the small bathroom and gave Tifa an appreciative nod before shutting the door and looking around. He stepped in front of the mirror and flinched at his dirty and bruised face.

"The Planet could be a little more…forgiving…when returning people." he mused out loud as he started undoing his shoulder armor, buckles and straps.

Once undressing completely and doing a full damage assessment, Angeal cracked the door open a little and placed his neatly folded clothes outside the door, as Tifa had requested. He shut the door quietly, then went and turned the shower on, testing the water several times and adjusting the squeaky knobs till it was just the right temperature before stepping in. The pressure was good and steady, the water hot and there was a variety of body washes and shampoos at his disposal, more than half of them presumably Tifa's. Angeal didn't imagine Cloud would be a 'Blushing Apple Blossom' type of guy.

Tifa gave a knock on the door, "Is everything alright in there?" she called, wanting to make sure her guest had everything he needed.

Angeal dropped the bottle he had been smelling and looked over the shower curtain, as if expecting her to come in suddenly.

"Yeah, everything is fine."

Tifa nodded to herself, "Alright. I'm going to put your clothes in the wash. Just go into the room across the hall to wait, nobody will bother you in there until your things are dry."

"Okay, thank you."

Once satisfied that she was gone, this determined by the sound of her trotting down the stairs, Angeal bent and picked the bottle of body wash back up and flipped the top, squeezing a small amount into his palm. It had a light piney scent with some undertones of lemon. Personally he thought it smelled like floor cleaner, but it was either that or blushing apple blossoms. What was a blushing apple blossom anyways? Angeal snorted and started lathering up, running the suds across his chest and biceps, down his legs and across his lower back. It felt so good to be clean, his skin tingling under the hot water, all the dirt and grime just washed away like magic.

Downstairs, Tifa had just finished putting Angeal's clothes into the small, rather old washing machine. She would have liked to get a newer one, one that didn't require a good kick every now and then to make it work. Cloud always worried that one day she would kick it a little to hard and put a hole in it. Tifa smiled as she started sweeping the bar floor as she remembered when Cloud had, surprisingly, voiced that worry. One day…they could buy a new washing machine and dryer.

"Tifa."

Tifa turned her eyes to the doorway were Cloud was standing. She must have been deeper in thought than she realized, if Cloud had snuck past her without her noticing.

"Hm?"

Cloud tightened his hand around the doorknob and darted his eyes to Tifa's expectant face for a moment,

"I have to go to Kalm. I'll…be back tonight. Don't wait up."

With that said, he quickly opened the door and left before Tifa could say anything, or he could see the disappointed look on her face. He knew how much she liked him staying home at night when he was around, having dinner together with him and Marlene…like a family. Angeal could substitute for that tonight, he supposed.

Tifa opened her mouth to say good-bye but he was already gone, the door latching quietly. She let out a sigh and looked down at the broom in her hands. Was one night together, really such a hard thing to ask of Cloud? Why did he always run from just being around? If nothing else, from being a friend or letting her be his friend? Tifa shook her head at her thoughts and looked over to Angeal's boots, belts and stomach bracer. They could use wiping down and polishing…she didn't feel like sweeping the floor anyways. After grabbing a cloth and warm water, along with a can of leather polish that Cloud used, Tifa sat down at one of the booths by the window and began cleaning the dust and grime off the boots, reflecting on the ex-SOLDIER Cloud had drug home.

"Tifa! I'm home!"

Tifa looked up as the front door opened and closed, smiling. About a week ago, Barret had finally gotten Marlene enrolled in one of the newer schools near the bar, feeling it was about time the little girl had a proper education. Tifa had had a lot to do with the persuasion of course, lecturing him about his duties to Marlene. So far, Marlene was enjoying school immensely, her sweet nature and even temper allowing her to make friends easily.

"Hey Marlene. How was your school today?" Tifa asked, setting one cleaned boot down on the floor and picking the other up.

Marlene bounced on the balls of her feet, hands behind her back as she came to stand next to Tifa, "Fine, guess what we did today!"

Putting the boot aside for the moment, Tifa made a show of thinking hard about the matter, then shook her head and waited for Marlene to tell her.

"Drew pictures of our families!" With a flourish, Marlene presented a sheet of paper, placing it on the table in front of Tifa, "See, that's you, that's Cloud and that's Daddy and, and that's me."

Tifa smiled at the crayon drawing, Cloud with his spiky yellow hair, herself, holding Cloud's hand none the less and Barret holding Marlene's hand, all standing in a field of yellow and white flowers.

"Very nice Marlene. Why don't you get the tape from behind the counter and hang it up in your room ok? You need to get out of your school clothes so they don't get dirty."

"Okay!" Marlene grabbed her drawing and ran behind the counter, getting the tape, then grabbed her bag and ran upstairs to change.

A few moments later, Tifa jumped at a screech from upstairs, Marlene barreling down a second later and into Tifa's arms.

"There's a naked man in my room!" Marlene cried when asked what was wrong.

Angeal stood blinking at the door where a flurry of red plaid and light brown hair had suddenly ran in, then out from, his ears still ringing from the unearthly noise it had uttered. He suspected it had been a little girl and had reacted accordingly, grabbing a blanket from the bed and yanking it over his bare chest, gripping the towel around his middle tighter. This _was_ the room Tifa had directed him to, to wait while his clothes washed and dried…maybe she hadn't expected the little girl back so soon? Poor thing was probably traumatized now, walking into her room and finding a half dressed man waiting for her. He was slightly traumatized now too, now that he thought about it and gave his still ringing head a shake. If the military was to duplicate that sound, they would be able to subdue any enemy in moments…

Once Tifa had realized what Marlene was saying, she quickly ran upstairs and knocked on the door, hoping Angeal was still ok. Ex-SOLDIER or not, startled little girls could be dangerous.

"Angeal? Is everything ok?"

Angeal whirled to face the door and pulled the blue and white blanket tighter around him, cape style, "…Yeah…I'm fine."

Tifa gave a sigh of relief, , "Good, I completely forgot that Marlene would be home early today, I'm really sorry. Oh, your clothes will be done soon…"

"It's fine…Maybe it would be better…if I moved into the office?" he asked, moving to the door, resting his hand on the doorknob while waiting for her response.

"That would be fine. I'll be downstairs if you need anything."

Angeal nodded to himself and waited till he heard her footsteps going down the stairs before venturing out of the room and across the hall into Cloud's office. He quietly shut the door then turned and looked around, wondering where the young man had went after his phone call. It was a rather big room…he wondered why they hadn't made it the master bedroom, instead of an office, but maybe the couple didn't sleep together. From the little interaction he had seen, it was obvious Tifa had strong feelings for Cloud. Angeal may have not been good with the ladies, nor did he desire that sort of thing as much as other men, but he wasn't blind.

He sat down on the edge of the desk and looked at the few group photos, his eyes roaming over the faces. None of them seemed familiar to him. They all looked tired but very happy, as if they had just fought and won a great battle. Maybe he would ask about it later.…he had so many questions. He found himself remembering little things, seemingly pointless things. He remembered an apartment with plants and a few nice outdoorsy pictures, he also remembered another apartment, tastefully…well depended on your idea of taste…decorated in reds and blacks, leather accents and bookcases.

Angeal remembered these things but wasn't sure where they were, or whose, although he felt sure the simple apartment with the plants was his. He had always liked plants. Being poor as a child, plants were much less inexpensive than a pet, even though he had always secretly wanted a puppy of his very own. His honor and pride would never let him ask his mother for one though.

Honor could be quite a burden at times….


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Very sorry for the long wait for this chapter. Packing/writers block. Heh. Sadly this will be the last chapter for a little while, due to me starting college this Monday, so I made the chapter a bit longer for you. Thank you very, very much for the reviews and for reading. Again, I hope everyone is in character as best as I could make them. **

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing execpt a pair of socks. Fuzzy ones. *smiles*

**Chapter Four**

An hour later found Angeal sat at the bar in his now clean clothes, (he had been impressed that Tifa had even cleaned and polished his leatherwear) listening to Tifa chatting and warily watching the little girl, who was eyeing him as well, although less warily. He turned his attention back to Tifa, who seemed to endlessly wash glasses and took advantage of her pause for breath.

"Is Marlene…?" he wasn't sure how to word the question without sounding nosy or embarrassing himself.

Tifa looked at Marlene with a smile and shook her head "Cloud and mine's? No, she just lives with us, while her dad is away."

"He's away _a lot_." Marlene put in soberly, "But Tifa is sorta like a mommy, aren't you Tifa?"

Angeal watched Tifa's face in the moment before she replied. She looked a little sad before smiling that mega watt smile.

"Yes…yes I suppose I am."

"Do _you_ have any kids?" Marlene turned to look at Angeal. She was apparently warming up.

"I…" Angeal frowned deeper as he thought hard about the question. He didn't recall having children, or any women in his life other than his mother for that matter. "I don't have."

Marlene moved over a few stools to sit directly by him. "Do you like kids?"

"Yeah, I do…" Angeal smiled down at her a little bit. He had always liked kids and someday, he wanted one, maybe two for his own. A real family. With a dog. A cute, big, hyper dog. With blue eyes. He frowned a little. That seemed familiar…

"Do you like _me_?"

"Marlene…" Tifa said with an exasperated tone, as if to say 'leave the poor man alone'. "Why don't you run upstairs and do your homework now, ok?"

Marlene gave a little pout but slid off the bar stool anyways and ran for the stairs, waving to Angeal as she went. A promise that she would be back with more questions.

Tifa gave a little laugh and came around the end of the bar to sit by Angeal, "Well, I'm sure you must have some questions of your own." she stated, leaning her cheek in her hand and giving a little smile.

"Yeah. Cloud…told me a few things, but there's still a lot that doesn't make sense. What happened? Cloud said the original bar was destroyed…when the Plate was dropped."

"How much do you remember?" Tifa asked bluntly.

Angeal frowned, "…I remember my childhood…up until I was a teenager…the rest is blank. I've been getting…little pieces, but nothing seemingly important."

"Alright, I'll start with some basic stuff. Shin-Ra was…is a power company. They utilized mako as an energy source and trained a rather large military called SOLDIER to keep them in power and crush any opposition. First class SOLDIER was the highest rank, which is what you were, along with General…" she faltered for a moment, "Sephiroth…and another…I'm not sure of his name. Cloud could tell you more about the details."

"So…I was very good at what I did…" Angeal said slowly, after processing this bit of information.

Tifa nodded, "Yes. Anyways, Sephiroth went crazy in the end when he found out how he came to be what he was…he destroyed my home, nearly destroyed the Planet, killed a dear friend, nearly killed me and Cloud…" she broke off. The memories and wounds were still fresh and painful, not yet healed by time.

Angeal's face softened a little, "I'm sorry…you shouldn't be talking about this…it can wait."

"No, it's alright. What is past is past. Anyways, Shin-Ra dropped the Sector 7 plate on us, AVALANCHE," Angeal gave her a confused look, "anti-Shin-Ra organization…to try and make an example of us. Of what happens when you go against Shin-Ra."

"So you and this…organization went out to stop Sephiroth?"

Tifa pushed her hair from her face and nodded, "Yes. Cloud was an ex-SOLDIER, so he took over. Now he's just a delivery boy…and I'm just a bar owner."

Angeal shifted on his seat, then leaned back a little and folded his arms across his chest. With a deep frown, he pondered what would have inclined him to join such a company that so willingly threw away people's lives. It was certainly not honorable in any way.

"Where's Cloud?" he asked. He had noticed earlier that the young man was gone but hadn't thought it his business to inquire.

"He had a delivery in Kalm. Should be back tonight…" Tifa stood and pushed the bar stool under the counter with her knee, readying to continue with her continuous upkeep of her bar.

Angeal nodded and stood as well, motioning to the door, "If it's alright…I'm going to take a look around outside." he felt like a little kid, asking his mother's permission. Maybe Tifa did that to everyone…

"Sure. Just don't get lost." she replied, picking up a mop and bucket, squirting some floor cleaner into the bucket and smiling.

With a nod of agreement , Angeal opened the door and stepped out onto the step of the bar, taking in the little side street, the many children just sitting around, looking hungry, the people dressed in drab colors, all on their way somewhere, the sculpture angel on the cross beam watching over as it seemed, 7th Heaven. He pulled the door shut behind him, then stepped into the street and started walking towards what sounded like the most busy area around. It was nearly dusk and a few recycled street lights were starting to flicker on; an attempt to ward away the coming darkness.

As he walked and took in his surroundings, Angeal noticed several middle aged pedestrians giving him leery glances, one older man even going so far as to walk across the street, so as to not come close. It had to be the uniform, Angeal reasoned. These people had had many things destroyed and lost because of the company who's uniform he wore. New clothes, would have to be procured at some point. Of course, he had no money…Angeal paused and checked his pockets for a wallet.

In his back pocket he did find a canvas wallet but after a glance around, he replaced it and walked on. A city street at dusk was not the best place to be checking the contents of your wallet.

After not even a minute of walking, Angeal found himself at the edge of a large rotunda, some construction work of some kind going on in the middle. It appeared that they were erecting a large monument of some kind, judging by the width and girth of the base and foundation.

Angeal stood looking at it, lost in thought, pondering the resilience of human-kind. Their homes had been destroyed and yet here they were, rebuilding, moving on, creating new lives for themselves out of the old.

A sudden smell separated its self from the city odors and wafted under Angeal's nose, causing him to glance around quickly. He recognized it quickly; the sweet, sweet scent of hot coffee. A wonderful, steaming cup of coffee sounded perfectly heavenly and Angeal turned about in a circle, trying to pick up the location. A vagrant breeze brought him the smell once more, his feet carrying him across the rotunda and stopping him in front of a ramshackle café with dirty windows.

He peered through the greasy, smoke fogged window and spotted an empty booth in the corner, the counter with a coffee pot on a warming coil right across from it. That decided it and he pushed the door open with his shoulder, and, ignoring the inquisitive glances of the other patrons, sat himself down in the booth. Once sure of his surroundings, meaning he knew the exits and threat levels of each person in the room, Angeal pulled his wallet out and prayed that he would have enough Gil for a cup of coffee. If not, he would be terribly put out. Granted, café coffee was bound to be not as good as his own brew but in this case, he didn't really care.

Much to Angeal's immense relief, he had enough gil for several, cups of coffee. He also found his SOLDIER I.D Card, which gave him access to anywhere in the old Shin-Ra building. Not that it did him any good now. Several business cards for various things, a hand draw map on the corner of a paper, worn from being folded so much, and a pressed leaf also inhabited the wallet. Angeal didn't remember putting the leaf in the wallet, however he knew what it was and smiled a little as he held it to his nose. It smelled like Banora Whites.

A middle aged woman, who no doubt was a chain smoker came over and looked down at Angeal, interrupting his wallet rummaging, lips pursed together as she held her pen ready over the pad of paper.

"What can I get ya honey?" she sounded bored.

"One, hot cup of coffee."

She gave him a long look, "Is that all?"

Obviously she had been hoping for a bigger order…Angeal didn't think he would trust any food prepared there, and he was sure he had eaten some pretty awful stuff before.

"Yes ma'am." he said politely, clicking the correct amount of gil down on the tabletop.

"Alright…" she droned, dropping his gil into her apron pocket and turning to walk the few steps to pour his cup of coffee.

Angeal thanked her with a incline of his head as she set the cup in front of him, then waited till she had left before wrapping his hand around the hot cup and raising it to his mouth, pausing a moment to inhale the warm smell. He slowly closed his eyes as the steam wisped across his cheeks, then raised the rim of the cup to his lips and took a small sip of the black liquid. The strong, warm flavor rolled across his tongue, leaving his tongue burning from the heat and the warmth spread throughout his body as it hit his stomach like tendrils, reaching all the way to his toes. Angeal nearly groaned and took another sip, a little longer this time, savoring the scent in his nose, taste on his tongue and warmth in his hands.

The dull clink of the bell above the door caused him to open his eyes, then blink at the bright red shock of hair that entered, followed by a dark shaven head. His eyes trailed down the dark suits, then back up…they seemed really familiar but he just couldn't place them.

"Whoa." The red head's blue eyes caught sight of Angeal and he stared for a moment. "I musta taken a harder hit to the head than I thought….I'm seeing crazy stuff."

"Hm?…whoa." the taller man agreed, following his partner's gaze. "Isn't that…wait Reno."

Rude's words were to no avail as Reno flopped himself down in the seat across from Angeal, that cat-like curious look in his eyes, one side of his mouth turned up in a smirk.

"Aren't you supposed to be like, dead?"

Angeal set his coffee cup down and eyed the intrusion of his peaceful, happy coffee drinking with a glare. He felt a buzz of irritation growing in the back of his head, however…this irritation apparently knew him. May or may not be a good thing….

"Sorry, I don't know you." he said shortly.

Reno turned and looked up at Rude, "Why is it that nobody claims an acquaintance with me?"

"I don't know." Rude replied, watching Angeal through his sunglasses.

He was most definitely a First Class SOLDIER and he most definitely looked like one Angeal Hewley, killed 5 years ago by one Zack Fair. So if he had been killed…and missing since then, why was he here now. If Rufus found out he would be tickled pink. Well as tickled as Rufus could possibly get anyways.

"How could you forget a guy like me? Come on, I know you know me. I certainly know you, Angeal Hewley." Reno was saying.

Angeal's brows dropped to the dangerous level. His coffee was getting cooler with every second that this annoying man was sitting there and it just wasn't enjoyable anymore.

"Reno…"

"How do you know who I am?" Angeal asked bluntly.

Reno got a full blown smirk and Rude groaned a little to himself. "We're Turks, we know everyone that worked for Shin-Ra. And _you_ are supposed to be dead."

Turks…dark suits…a monotone voice…Angeal got pieces of memories, but nothing solid that made any sense. He rumbled in frustration and scowled at the Turk.

"Oh come on…not going to give me any answers?"

Rude pulled his partner up from the seat "Come on Reno."

He could tell Angeal was getting close to throttling Reno then and there and remembered how the three Firsts had been coffee addicts. Lifestream help the man that got between them and their caffeine fix…

Reno whined and fussed as Rude pushed him out the door, then frowned up at his stoic partner.

"That was Hewley, right?"

Rude nodded, "Unless we're both hallucinating, yeah. I'll do some research into his 'death' later."

Angeal watched the two men leave and quickly went back to his coffee but the moment had been ruined; his quiet, peaceful reverie…shattered. He sighed and finished the cup off, then sat there with the empty cup in his hands, trying to piece the fragments of his memories back together again. These…Turks…apparently worked for Shin-Ra the same time he had. They must have known each other to some degree but he just couldn't grasp the missing piece that would make it all make sense again…

**Thank you for reading. *bows***


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hello peoples. I managed to type this up over the weekend and finish it today. Go me. So far college is boring. This chapter has a lot of monolouge, just a little dialouge at the very end. I hope it's ok. Anyways, enjoy the story and remember, we all love reviews.**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any componets of Final Fantasy. Even though I really wish I owned Vincent.

**Chapter Five**

Upon the completion of his coffee, Angeal started to make his way back to the bar. An hour later, he found himself wandering the old Sector 7 slums, completely lost. Being lost was a new feeling for Angeal; he wasn't even sure where he had taken a wrong turn since the distance between the bar and the rotunda was fairly short. But there he was none the less, standing in front of a beautiful but ruined church. It seemed that nobody built in the old style anymore, no more graceful architecture or strong, quiet dignity. Everything was emotionless, built in right angles, steel and glass reflecting the drab and gray city. However the people had hope, they were optimistic, things would get better they knew.

Angeal turned from the stone steps of the church and went up, laying his hand on the heavy wooden doors and pushing one open. He stepped inside and allowed a moment to let his eyes adjusted to the slightly darker interior. When they did, he walked forward into the decrepit building but his feet halted suddenly at the sight of the flowers growing cheerfully in the light of the setting sun streaming through the broken roof. The first plants he had seen in the city so far. Off to one side a little handmade wagon stood alone and he wondered if someone had planted and sold the flowers.

Walking softly he approached them and bent to take in the smell then knelt on the edge of the broken floor. His eyes took in a few weeds growing in the flowers here and there and immediately the green thumb in him took over. Weeds started to fly and soon Angeal found himself knee-deep in the patch of flowers, fingers dirty and back aching a little, but feeling very satisfied with himself. The flowers looked happy too, now that they were free of weeds that were sucking up their precious water. Angeal straightened from his squatting position and wiped his hands off on his pants. It was then that he realized that the sun was no longer out and it was rather dark now, even though he could still see fairly well. So, he was lost, had wasted who knows how long weeding some obscure flower patch in a church and had no way to get back to 7th Heaven. Great.

"Well. As a ex-SOLDIER…and whatever that implies, I should have no trouble." Angeal muttered, making his way back to the floor, being careful that he didn't crush any of the flowers.

As he left and shut the doors, he felt a strange urge to protect the place, so after looking around the rubble Angeal found a large piece of concrete. With a grunt and a heave he picked it up and lugged it in front of the door, then bent the rebar through the door handles, securing them to the concrete so the doors could not be pushed open. Satisfied with his work he headed out through the ruins, grabbing a large piece of steel beam as he went, just in case. Out of sub-conscious instinct he put it over his shoulder and across his back, where it stayed anchored. Naturally he thought nothing of it and continued on his way, his right hand resting on the tapered end of it.

From where he was, Angeal could see the lights of Edge and made his way steadily in that direction. Tifa was probably worried. She just seemed the type to worry about anyone that she took under her roof and he had been gone a lot longer than planned. Not to mention he had said he wouldn't get lost.

The hair on the back of his neck slowly started to rise and he tightened his grip on the makeshift weapon across his back. Something was stalking him, something that wanted to have him for an impromptu snack. Angeal kept walking but his senses were heightened now by ten-fold, he could hear the heavy breathing of the creature, could sense how far back he was and could even smell the rank scent it had. Goddess, what kind of training had he gone through as a SOLDIER?

No matter, he was glad he had the training as he quickly rolled to one side and brought the sharp edge of the steel down on the creatures neck as it attacked. It gave a screech of pain but lunged again, although sluggishly, intent on making a kill. Angeal would have the kill tonight and he made quick work of the dying beast, driving the steel horizontally into it's skull mid-lunge, knocking it down into the rubble. It emitted a dying howl and shuddered several times before laying still, dead. With a slow breath, Angeal straightened from his battle stance and put the steel back in place. He felt exhilarated after the small skirmish and had the ridiculous impulse to do a fist pump, which he fought back and jogged down street instead, dodging rubble with every step.

With a great sigh of relief, Angeal found himself back at the rotunda in Edge after about half an hour and soon was opening the door to the bar and going in. He was a little surprised at the amount of people there, mostly workers of some kind, but here and there there was a man in a suit, tie loosened and collar undone, working quietly on a brandy or whiskey, lost in thought.

Angeal shut the door quietly behind him and glanced over at the bar itself. Tifa was much to busy for one person, chatting lightly to customers, serving and mixing drinks, smiling that smile and deftly avoiding drunken hands. She suddenly looked up towards the door and saw him, a look of relief spreading across her features for a moment, before she frowned and pointed sharply to the stairs. Angeal suddenly realized that she was angry with him and he meekly headed for the stairs and up them, ignoring the strange looks a few of the more coherent customers gave him. Once more, he felt like a little kid that had gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

He frowned. Actually he didn't know how that felt. Cookies were a rarity since they had been poor and he would never dare steal cookies from his mother when she made them. Genesis on the other hand brashly took anything he wanted from his parent's kitchen and never once got caught.

They had gotten in lots of other trouble though, all Genesis's ideas of course. Angeal remembered his mother giving him a sad, disappointed look and he had wished she would just give him a good whack instead of that look. It always made him feel so small and terrible inside. A similar feeling was now spreading in his chest. Tifa had been worried, even though they barely knew each other and he was the cause of her worry. Angeal sighed and sat down on his makeshift bed, but quickly got up again when he realized how dirty he was. Weeding and monster killing was a messy business apparently. So he stood awkwardly in the middle of the room and waited.

Downstairs, Tifa suddenly announced that she was closing early tonight and that everyone had five minutes to finish their drinks and leave. Her announcement was predictably met with groans and protests but nobody dared do anything more than that. Tifa Lockhart was not to be trifled with. While everyone was finishing, she started cleaning up spills on the counter, putting glasses in the sink, and wondering where Angeal had been. He had been dirty, his hands were cut and bleeding, not to mention that ghastly looking hunk of bloodied metal across his back.

She glanced at the clock to check the time and smiled to the few that were leaving already, saying their goodnights to the pretty women behind the counter. Tifa really didn't like closing so early, it was only eleven, but there were other more important things that needed her attention. Angeal was probably hungry, his hands needed taken care of, clothes washed…again.

"Two more minutes!" she called, stepping out onto the bar floor and starting to buss the tables.

It was all mechanical work; swipe the glasses into the big plastic tub, wipe the table off, push the chairs in, repeat until the tub was full, then take it behind the counter. Later she would wash all the glasses and put them away, as well as sweeping and mopping the floor. Every night was the same, but the routine was strangely calming. It would never change, despite little interruptions which Tifa took in stride, it would always be the same. After a year of chasing Sephiroth around the Planet, saving the Planet and all of that, she enjoyed the routine.

Finally the last of the customers made their way out the door, Tifa close behind to make sure they made it and to lock the doors behind them. Once the last tipsy drunk was out and the door safely secure, she headed up the stairs, stretching as she went, frowning at the mud from the big SOLDIER boots and the blood drops here and there. At the top, Tifa paused and put her hand on her hip, the entered the living room where Angeal was still standing, looking uncomfortable.

"Sit." she said, pointing to the couch/bed.

"I don't want to get it dirty."

"Sit anyways. It will wash." Tifa said, giving Angeal a no nonsense look.

He eyed her from under his lowered eyebrows, then sat wordlessly.

Tifa sat next to him, angled a bit, "Let me see your hands."

"What?"

Tifa reached out and caught his wrists, pulling his raw bleeding hands to her and started examining them. Angeal frowned and winced. He hadn't even been aware that he was injured.

"Come on, into the bathroom. You're going to get an infection if you don't take care of this."

Tifa's way of saying, 'I'm fixing your hands up and you won't say a word about it.'

Angeal stood and let her pull him to the bathroom, "I'm sorry…about the mess…and being gone so long."

"It will clean. What happened, Angeal?" She sat him down on the closed toilet and turned the water in the sink on.

"I got lost," No use in beating around the bush about it. "ended up in the slums."

Tifa pulled one hand under the warm water and Angeal winced. "And?"

Angeal knitted his brows together even more and wished she wasn't so perceptive. "A creature attacked me. I fought with a sword when I was in SOLDIER, didn't I?"

"Everyone in SOLDIER did." was Tifa's short answer as she poked and prodded all the dirt from his cuts. She suddenly straightened and looked at him, inhaling deeply. "Flowers…"

"Yeah, I found flowers in an old church…I…did some weeding." he admitted sheepishly.

Tifa bent back over his hand again, her fingers smoothing over his skin, "Aerith would have liked that…"

"Aerith?" Angeal asked, watching her fingers clean his wounds and then pat his hand dry.

"She was our friend…Sephiroth killed her…those were her flowers."

Tifa ducked her head a little then smiled at him as she smoothed some ointment over his wounds then wrapped a cloth bandage around his hand. She could have used materia but didn't really feel like going into Cloud's room to find one to use. This was slightly more personal anyways, you could ask more questions with more time to use up.

"I'm sorry." Angeal said quietly, pulling his wrapped hand back and offering the other.

"Thank you…" she smiled again, "Didn't you feel any of this?" Tifa motioned to the cuts as she pushed his hand under the water.

Angeal shook his head, "Heat of the moment…don't really feel anything."

"That's true. There has been a few times like that for me too."

"May, I ask you something?" Angeal flinched as her deft fingers probed into a deeper cut, working out a little piece of dirt.

"Sure."

"I 'met' two guys today. They knew me…said they were….Turks." It wasn't really a question, but he knew Tifa would understand.

"Red head and big bald guy?" Tifa asked, looking up at him.

Angeal nodded, "Yeah."

"The Turks work for Shin-Ra as…well assassins, dirty work, the President's bodyguards, ect. Supposedly they've 'reformed' now and don't do any of that now, but like everything that Shin-Ra says, it's a big lie." There was a note of bitterness in Tifa's voice as she turned the water off and patted Angeal's hand dry.

"I see…"

They both sat quietly as Tifa finished up his hand, unsure of what to say now and a awkward silence descended over the room. Angeal rubbed the back of his neck and shifted a little,

"Well, thank you."

Tifa nodded and smiled, stepping out of the small bathroom, "No trouble at all. Now get in the shower and get cleaned up and I'll take care of your clothes." she said, shutting the door before he could say anything and went downstairs to begin cleaning her bar up.

While she swept and mopped, Tifa started making a mental list of things that she needed. For one, Angeal needed some other clothes, pajamas as well. He couldn't just go running around in his SOLIDER uniform all the time. If the Turks knew, it would only be a matter of time before Rufus found out and would start looking for him. Fortunately, they didn't know where he was staying…yet. The Turks always seemed to find things out, whether you wanted them to or not.

They were Turks after all…

**Thanks for reading :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Hello. Here with another update. Kinda short this time and really just a filler more than anything. Next chapter will be better. Lots of Cloud in here for all you Cloud lovers *Bwhaha, sounds like Meat lovers, like a pizza* I was kinda depressed, so it came out in the form of Cloud angsting. Anyways. I hope you enjoy it none the less. And thank you SO MUCH for all the reviews and hits and favs and ect ect. They mean very much to me.

**Disclaimer:** No own. Not even gunpowder residue from Vincent's gun.

**Chapter Six**

Several hours later found Tifa sitting at the bar counter, her cheek resting in the palm of her hand, eyes closed and hair falling across her face like a veil. She had been sorting through the cash register, getting receipts in order, waiting for Cloud to come home like he said he would. In the process of waiting, she had fallen asleep, her arm locked into place to keep her from falling over. It was how Cloud found her when he came in at three that morning, dusty and tired.

He shut the door softly behind him and paused halfway across the floor when he saw Tifa asleep at the bar, the soft light pooling around her. Cloud glanced around then padded over, extending his gloved hand to wake her but hesitated and pulled it back. His gloves and hands were dirty, not at all fit to touch Tifa.

"Tifa."

Tifa stirred, then bolted up, looking up at Cloud with wide, sleep glazed eyes. She blinked a couple times to focus before sliding off the bar stool and pushing her hair back.

"You startled me…I didn't hear you come in."

Cloud nodded and looked to the ground. He felt bad that she had stayed up, waiting for him. Her neck was probably sore from sleeping in such a position and it was his fault. He felt his stomach knot up again, that terrible nervous feeling.

"Did your delivery go well, Cloud?" Tifa was asking, watching him, wishing he would look at her.

"Oh…yeah." He nodded again, dragging his eyes from the floor to glance at her face, then quickly looked to the stairs, "You should…go to bed…"

Tifa smiled a little and rested her hand on Cloud's shoulder for a moment, "You too. Goodnight Cloud." She pushed the stool in with her foot, then turned and walked slowly up the stairs, leaving Cloud to stand in the empty bar by himself.

Cloud listened, rather than watched her go and stood on the bar floor for a few moments, before turning and slowly trudging up the stairs to his 'room', his heart heavy. He wanted to tell her so many things, to tell her he was sorry, sorry for being late, for making her wait, for not being there, even though none of them were really his fault. It wasn't his fault the shipper didn't have the package ready when he got there, it wasn't his fault he had been attacked by a pack of creatures on the way back and it certainly wasn't his fault Tifa had waited for him.

With a heavy sigh, Cloud settled down on his cot and leaned forward to take his boots off, setting them neatly under the edge of the bed, his socks following. Cloud wrinkled his nose. They really needed to be washed…Next came his harness, also set under the bed beside his dusty boots. He sighed and stood, preparing to undress and shimmy under his covers, but paused and looked towards his closed door, feeling the calm strength radiating from the room Angeal was in. Cloud moved to his door on soft bare feet and pulled it open, then stepped across the hall and looked into the living room, pausing to let his eyes adjust to the darkness before focusing on the couch with the sleeping ex-SOLDIER.

Sleeping may not have been the best way to describe the peaceful state Angeal was in. He was sprawled across the couch on his stomach, one arm hanging off the edge and resting on the floor, his other arm under the pillow, holding it in a loving fashion, as if soft pillows were the most wonderful thing in the world. His hair was tousled and face relaxed completely and peaceful. The knot in Cloud's stomach dissolved as he turned away and closed the door softly, returning to his room. He suddenly felt very tired, and very…safe. Maybe the older man, Zack's mentor and friend, in the next room over, gave him a sense of security. He wasn't really sure. But whatever it was, it was nice.

Cloud stripped down to his boxer shorts, piling his dirty clothes in the corner by his bed, then dove into the cool, soft sheets, wriggling around with a grunt and pulling the quilt up closer to his head. Once settled, Cloud gave a groan as he realized the light was still on and scurried out of bed, across the room to flick it off, then dove back into bed and hurried to get comfortable again. He hoped that tonight would be without nightmares, especially since the knot in his stomach was gone…maybe he would get a goodnight's sleep for once…

Angeal gave a grunt as a stream of morning sun hit his face and he fumbled around for the top of the blanket, pulling it further up his face in order to block the disturbing sunlight. He was not ready to be up yet, despite the fact that he was a early riser…Sleep, simply felt to good. However, the earth seemed to be pulling away from his left side and before he could react, he was laying on the floor blinking and shaking his head. Angeal kicked his legs to untangle them from the blankets, then sat up and took in his surroundings, the memories of the day before and all that had happened, coming back to him with a rush. He shook his head again and hoisted himself up from the floor, glancing to the door as Tifa barged in, dishtowel in one hand.

She eyed him seriously for a moment, then smiled. "Is everything alright?"

"I fell off…" Angeal felt he needed to explain, although it was rather obvious.

Tifa leaned against the doorway and smiled some more, internally laughing at his expression and the way his usually slicked back hair was standing up everywhere, like a porcupine.

"Breakfast is almost ready, just come down in a few minutes." she said, turning then pausing, "Could you wake Cloud for me? He may already be up." With that, Tifa headed back downstairs.

Angeal closed his mouth and stood up, absently nodding his head although she was already gone, and picked his blankets up, folded them and set them neatly on one end of the couch. He had slept in his pants and shirt, so there was no need to get dressed. The armor could wait till later.

After glancing around the room to make sure everything was neat, Angeal stepped across the hall and knocked on the office door. He wasn't sure why Tifa had asked him to wake Cloud up but he would do as asked anyways. When there was no answer, he opened the door and looked in, then went in all the way when he saw the lump under the quilt and the explosion of blonde hair peeking out of one end.

Angeal twitched as he had a odd sadistic urge to put his mouth by the blonde's ear and holler, like he once had to a bunch of cadets that had been late and caught still asleep. Wait what? Where had that random memory come from? He shook his head and reached down, catching Cloud's shoulder and giving it a good shake.

Cloud flew upright and attempted to assault Angeal for a moment before falling back onto the bed with a crazed look on his face.

"You're not Tifa." he stated.

"Tifa asked me to wake you." Angeal deadpanned, folding his arms.

"Oh." Cloud could feel a steady rise of heat on his face. He felt like an idiot and wanted to crawl under a rock and die.

Angeal turned and walked back to the door, "Breakfast will be ready soon." he said over his shoulder and left.

Cloud shivered and quickly threw some clean clothes on, yanked his boots on and slipped into his harness, wanting to get away from the bar. The familiar knot in his stomach was back and breakfast with Tifa and Marlene was always painfully awkward. He never knew what to say and usually ended up fumbling with his fork and knife.

"Cloud!" Marlene attacked him with a hug as he stepped into the bar, wrapping her arms around his leg and looking up at him happily.

"Hey…Marlene." Great, how could he just leave now?

"There you are Cloud. Come sit down." Tifa was giving him that smile…the one she only gave to him and the knot in his stomach tightened.

Angeal was watching him from the end of the bar and Cloud could feel his eyes burning into his forehead. No, he would have to stay and eat breakfast and feel awkward. So he sat down and watched Marlene sit next to him, chattering on about happenings at school. He tried to listen for a little while but she was talking fast so he gave him and just nodded his head here and there. Marlene beckoned for Angeal to sit by her and he obliged her and soon had her full attention, since apparently he was a better listener than Cloud was.

Angeal could feel the tenseness rolling off Cloud, his body language was stiff and taunt. When he had come down, Angeal could see he had been preparing to run but Marlene had stifled that plan. He wondered why. Why would Cloud not want to spend as much time as he could with the beautiful barmaid that obviously cared for him and the adorable little girl that also cared very much about him?

And how in the world could any man in his right mind leave such wonderful food? Angeal inhaled the delicious smell of the food Tifa set in front of him on a plate and picked up his fork eagerly. There was pancakes, two eggs, cooked just the way he liked him and two juicy sausages. Not to mention, the crowning moment of the morning, when Tifa poured him a big cup of wonderful hot coffee. Yes, Cloud really needed to rethink things.

Tifa seated herself behind the bar, so she could face the two men and Marlene, checked to make sure everyone had what they needed, graced them all with that smile and went to eating. Cloud fidgeted and fumbled his fork, nearly dropping it. He felt like he couldn't swallow anything but he manfully ate his way through Tifa's wonderful cooking.

"Is there anything I can help do today?" Angeal broke the awkward silence and looked at Tifa and then Cloud.

Cloud ducked his head a little and faced Angeal over Marlene's head, "I…should show you around…I don't have any deliveries until later today…."

Tifa smiled, "That would be good. So he won't get lost again."

"A…gain?" Cloud looked at Tifa with a frown.

"Yeah, I…got lost yesterday. Ended up in the Midgar slums." Angeal conveyed another forkful of pancake and egg to his mouth and closed his eyes as he chewed, savoring the flavor.

"Oh…" Cloud looked at his plate sorrowfully. It was his fault Angeal had gotten lost…

Tifa nudged his hand, "Cloud, you don't have to finish it if you can't." she said gently.

Cloud raised his eyes and looked at Tifa, her face startlingly close, her eyes gentle with understanding and kindness. He didn't deserve her at all…any of this really.

"Well…" Angeal broke into his thoughts, "If you want to show me around, I would be fine with that. I'd like to see the Shin-Ra building….maybe something will come back to me."

With great effort, Cloud tore his eyes from Tifa, the heat rising in his face and he bobbled his head.

"Alright…"

Angeal nodded, glad he was going to get to some answers finally and went back to politely devouring his food. Tifa poured him his second cup of coffee and he gave her his warmest smile, the one reserved for the few nice women he met. It was a very short list. He smiled internally to himself as he realized he had just remembered something else. Nothing important but it was still something. He wondered if his security/ I.D card would work in the old Shin-Ra building…maybe if he could just walk the halls, see the rooms, something, anything from his life as a SOLDIER would come back to him.

He would find out soon enough…

**Thank you for reading.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hot off the presses! Sorta. College is still boring, but I got into the creative writing class I wanted to be in and love it. So yeah. About the story, we have a little Reno appearance in there, some other stuffs. Hope you guys enjoy it and thank you so much for all the reviews. Reviews make me happy. :)**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of this, some people somewhere else with lots of money own it. *pouts*

**Chapter 7**

Fifteen minutes later, Cloud parked Fenrir outside of the old Shin-Ra building in Midgar and pushed his goggles down around his neck.

"Well…here we are."

Angeal smothered a cough and got off the back of the bike, wiping his dust covered face off with his hand, then turned and looked up at the ruins of the Shin-Ra building. Nothing was coming to him just yet, just flashes of the apartment interiors from before.

"Cloud. Did SOLDIERS, have their own places here?"

Cloud dismounted the bike, pulled a small rock from the grooves of the tire and nodded, "Yeah. First Classes had their own apartments."

"That makes sense then…" Angeal said, walking towards the shambled main entrance.

"Angeal, how are we getting in there? It may be ruined but I'm sure Rufus keeps security around."

Angeal reached into his back pocket and pulled his wallet out, then pulled the plain white key out of it's slot. "We'll see if my key card still works."

Cloud blinked and made a non-committal sound. More than likely there was no power to the building, so the security box wouldn't work anyways. As Angeal approached the box, Cloud's SOLDIER sense tingled and he took a quick glance around, scanning the ruins for trouble. Seeing nothing of any importance, he walked to where Angeal was blowing rubble and dust out of the key card slot.

"Well here we go." Angeal said, pushing his card into the slot and listening for the sound of the doors being unlocked…

Cloud looked at the door incredulously as it clicked open, granting them access and hurried to open it, leaning on the heavy door until Angeal was inside before letting it hiss shut. The inside air was stale and smelled odd and the light cast weird shadows against the distorted walls and shattered glass.

"What floor do we need to be on?" Angeal asked, walking around what was once the reception area.

"Up high…we'll need to use the stairs." Cloud took the lead and headed for the emergency stairs, dodging rubble as he trotted up the stairs.

Angeal followed after him at an easy pace, pausing every now and then to peer out a window or to use his access card to enter another floor. At the pace they were maintaining, it did not take them long to reach the SOLDIER floor, which was in pretty bad shape, many of the rooms and hallways were caved in and impassible.

Cloud looked around as they entered the main area, scanning for any weird things that may or may not be lurking amongst the debris…his SOLDIER senses were tingling again. Angeal stopped beside him and took everything in, trying to envision what it would have looked like before being destroyed.

"So, the apartments would have been, which way?" he asked, turning to look down at Cloud.

Cloud pointed to the left, a hall with to much wiring hanging from the crumbling ceilings, "Down that way."

"Alright." Angeal turned on his heel and headed down the hallway, avoiding the wiring. The further down they went, the less the damage became.

"Here, these rooms." Cloud spoke up from behind Angeal, pointing at gray steel doors on one side of the hallway.

Angeal nodded and went to the first, "Try each of them I suppose." he said, pushing his key card into the slot. It did nothing for a moment, then blinked red and spat the card back out. "Guess it's not this one…"

Cloud nodded and watched in silence as Angeal tried the next door, with the same results. The third door however, shuddered and groaned open as the little light flickered green. Angeal glanced over at Cloud, squared his shoulders and stepped into the apartment.

Dusty light filtered through the window shades that hung over the broken out windows, casting little dots of sun on the rubble covered floor. Under the windows, sat what looked to be a dark blue couch, the coloring was hard to tell since it was so covered with dust. The remains of a coffee table sat in front of the couch and a end table to one side, a dead plant sitting on it. Angeal walked further into the room, pushing plaster around with the toe of his boot to uncover the hardwood floor, while Cloud watched from the doorway, unwilling to intrude. On one wall was a bookcase holding a fairly good amount of books on it and a few pictures. Angeal picked one up and blew it off, then wiped it with his sleeve.

"Genesis…" he said, peering at the photo of himself and Genesis, arms slung over each others shoulders, Genesis looking pleased and smug and Angeal just smiling a little.

Angeal took the photo out of the frame and put it in his pocket, then picked another one up.

"Who's this?" he asked, showing Cloud the picture.

"Zack…"

"Oh." Angeal said, looking back at the picture of Zack, grinning like a maniac and making a peace sign. He removed the picture and added it to the other before moving around the room again.

His head was starting to hurt as he got flashes of things from his memory, things about the room that had happened there. He noticed things that were out of place, or missing and started to get a clear image of what the room had looked like.

"Here…I had two plants here…and there was a small palm in that corner, where that chunk of plaster is. Yes…yes I remember now." he said, moving through a door and into the dark bedroom.

It was a simple room, dark tan walls, a low, simple bed with blue sheets and a wool blanket, typical plain nightstand, dresser and a closet. Angeal rifled through the unharmed dresser and pulled out several changes of clothes and such, then got a suitcase from the closet and put the things in them, a smile twitching his lips. He was happy, happy he was remembering and happy had he fresh clothes now. Tifa wouldn't have to keep washing the same ones over and over just so he would have something to wear.

"Angeal…we should get going." Cloud called from the other room, starting to get antsy.

Angeal came back out with the suitcase and nodded, "Right. I got some changes of clothes and things."

Cloud stepped back out the door and turned to look at Angeal, "Did you remember anything?"

"Yeah. Little things, but helpful things." he said, looking back at the apartment once more before stepping out the door and letting it slid shut.

The two headed back down the hall at a rapid pace, Cloud in a hurry to leave the building and memories it brought back to him.

In a small corner, a tiny convex lens watched them go, sending feed to a building several miles away…

"_Well. This is an interesting… development."_

"_Told you it was him boss."_

"_Hmm…lets just see how things play out, shall we?"_

"_You got it."_

"Thank you for taking me there, Cloud." Angeal said, as he dismounted Fenrir in front of Seventh Heaven.

Cloud nodded, "No problem…I have some deliveries to make…will you keep an eye on things here?"

Angeal gave a simple nod, "Of course. I'll see you later then." he said, stepping back from the bike as Cloud gave a simple nod and took off.

After watching Cloud ride off down the street and around the corner, Angeal turned and pushed open the bar door, nearly running into Tifa. She gasped and backed up a few steps, head down,

"I'm sorry…I thought you were Cloud…" she looked around him, "where is Cloud?"

Angeal rubbed his neck, "He had some deliveries to make…" he felt bad…she had been waiting for Cloud and it smelled like she had made lunch but Cloud was not there, just him.

He moved and set his suitcase by the stairs, then moved to sit at the bar and keep her company. Tifa smiled warmly at him as she finished putting shot glasses away, her mind far away with Cloud.

"So how did it go?" she finally asked.

Angeal motioned to the suitcase, "I got some of my clothes from my old place…the dresser was unharmed."

She gave a light laugh, "Did you remember anything?"

"Yeah, I did remember some things." he reached into his pocket and pulled the photos out and laid them on the counter, "I found these too."

Tifa hung the towel on its bar and picked the photos up, "Zack…and is this Genesis?"

Angeal nodded, "Yeah…now I know what happened, that he did join SOLDIER with me…but I don't know where he is now. If he's even still alive."

"You guys were best friends?" Tifa asked, deciding not to go into the 'Cloud's the only remaining survivor of SOLDIER, but hey, you showed up, so maybe Genesis is out there' speech.

"Yeah, we grew up together in Banora. I joined and he followed." Angeal said quietly, picking the picture up and gazing at it. "Where are you from?" he figured he should get to know her at least.

Tifa came around the end of the bar and sat down on the chair next to him, resting her cheek in her palm, "Nibelheim, same as Cloud."

"So you knew each other there?"

"Yeah, we sorta knew each other." she smiled, "He was always really shy. Would you like some coffee?"

Angeal nodded, "Coffee would be great. Where's Marlene?" he asked, since it was rather quiet.

Tifa rose and went back behind the bar to start a pot of coffee, "She's at school until 3."

"Does she walk home?"

"Yes, usually…since Cloud's not around to pick her up."

"Alone?"

Tifa glanced over at Angeal, who was frowning. "Yes."

"Hm…How far is it?"

"Several blocks…why?"

Angeal shifted, "I'll go get her." he stated.

Tifa turned and looked straight at him, "What?"

"I said I'll go get her." he repeated patiently.

"Oh….alright. If you really want to."

Angeal gave a nod and accepted the cup of coffee she slid across the counter to him, slowly taking a sip and savoring it. "Marlene said her father is gone a lot?"

"Yes, he's in Corel, researching alternate energy sources. Barret's not her biological father, they were best friends and when her dad died, Barret took her to raise on his own."

"And now she stays with you and Cloud." Angeal affirmed.

Tifa nodded, "She's almost more part of our family than Barret…" there was a hint of sadness in her tone, the ever elusive family life she longed for with Cloud.

Angeal took another sip of his coffee and leaned back on the stool, crossing his arms across his chest reflectively, "How hard is it to get to the school?"

"You shouldn't get lost, but I'll draw you a map. Marlene knows the way back." Tifa answered with a smile.

"Thank you."

"No problem. Do any of the clothes you brought back need washing?"

Angeal was about to answer when the front door opened and Reno darkened Tifa's doorstep.

"Hey there." he greeted with a crooked grin, shutting the door behind him.

Tifa glanced at Angeal, panic flashing across her face for a second before she turned to give Reno a pointed look, "What do you want Reno."

"Easy now…no need to get hostile."

"The bar is closed Reno." Tifa said, starting to head around the end of the bar, but Angeal stood up and set his coffee cup down with a soft click.

"I think she's wanting you to leave."

Reno eyed Angeal for a moment, his hand hovering over his EMR in contemplation and Angeal watched him with warning eyes, daring him to go ahead and try. With every passing second the air grew more tense, but then Reno chuckled and backed up.

"You're right. I'll just…come back when the bar's open." he said, turning on heel and leaving in un-Reno like silence.

Tifa let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding, "Well…they know where you are now…it will only be a matter of time before Rufus comes after you."

Angeal turned and relaxed his shoulders, "I'm not worried about it, I have my pride and my honor…and I have a feeling that whatever we did was neither." he stated calmly, sitting back down and taking another sip of coffee.

"I think I like having you around." Tifa stated bluntly, turning and going back behind the counter, "I can handle things on my own, but it's nice to have a man around…"

Angeal turned a light shade of pink and took a long swallow of his coffee, "Um…you're welcome?"

Tifa chuckled, "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, Angeal." she wet a rag down and started wiping down the already clean counter top, "Could you run an errand for me and then you can go right to the school?"

"Sure…what do you need?" Angeal stood and finished his coffee, leaning over the counter to set it in the sink.

Upstairs, the phone started to ring, "The list is on the fridge in the back, take some money from the till. I need to answer that." Tifa said quickly, hanging the rag over the facet and running upstairs.

"Ok…" Angeal frowned and retrieved said list, carefully took some money from the till and left, picking up his make-shift weapon on the way out, wondering if maybe he should wait for her to give him directions. But she sounded like she wanted him to leave right then, so he did so and put her urgency out of his mind.

Angeal was starting to make a map of the city already in his mind, with the rotunda as the center. Seventh Heaven was never the starting point in his mind map, always the rotunda and everything else branched off from there. So he went there first and looked over the list to determine what sort of shop he should be looking for. It was a fairly common household list; laundry soap, dish soap, toilet paper, paper towels, ect.

"Supermarket it is." he said to himself, turning in a circle and heading for what looked like the most promising street for stores, which ran east to west and was fairly busy with pedestrians.

**P.S-Sorry for the abrupt ending. Next time we will have Angeal's supermarket adventures and picking Marlene up. Thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **Aaand here we have it, chapter eight completed. Due to stress and alot of other stuff, I was unable to continue college for spring term, so I have all spring and summer to keep this this updated. *Hopefully* Thank you to all my lovely reviewers for making me want to continue this. I hope you guys enjoy the Angeal/Marlene fluff in this chapter .

**Disclaimer: Yeah, if I owned this, do you think I would still be living here and not in Italy? Didn't think so.**

**Chapter Eight**

A half hour later found Angeal wandering the aisles of a small store, shopping basket in one hand and shopping list in the other. He was standing in front of the dish soap selection, looking rather bewildered and pondering the mystery of why you would need so many different kinds of dish soap. There was so many different colors, scents, purposes. Purple Lavender soap, perfect for shining your crystal glasses; Rainforest Green, safe for your hands and so on and so forth.

Angeal exhaled sharply and shifted his weight for the tenth time, defiantly staring the bottles down. It couldn't be this hard! It was just dish soap for Gaia's sake!

The hair on the back of his neck started to rise as he became aware of being watched. Two females. Caucasian, dark brown hair, plain clothes…babies in their carts. And they were watching him. Their eyes held pity for the poor lost looking man, with the big muscles and strong jaw. Angeal got a twitch in his strong jaw and he turned to give them a half cocked grin. The two women stared and then looked at each other for a moment before turning back to Angeal, a hungry gleam in their eyes.

Angeal was suddenly afraid for his life and fled the scene, hastily grabbing and paying for one bottle of lemon dish soap before dashing into the street and practically running a few blocks, glancing over his shoulder until he was sure it was safe. He had not been followed. The world, he mused, was apparently a dangerous place, where even shopping mothers with babies were out to inflict bodily harm on innocent people. Then there were these...Turk people who were out to get him and Rufus, whoever that was. Yes, the world was a dangerous place.

Upon reaching the rotunda once more, (Angeal felt rather proud of himself for not getting lost) he took a gander at the sun to check the time and then pondered how to find the school, as Tifa hadn't drawn the map because of interruptions. He had little less than half an hour left in which to find the school and pick up Marlene. Angeal glanced around, not having a single clue as to which way to go and there didn't seem to be anyone around who might know. Just the ordinary civilians and workers.

While Angeal was pondering his predicament and somewhat oblivious to his surroundings, a slender hand slipped into his back pocket and nimbly lifted his wallet out. Unfortunately for the thief, who was expecting to get an easy lift off the big, lost looking dude, the wallet snagged a little on the way out. Angeal twitched and put his hand back to feel his pocket, then spun quickly just in time to see a slight girl dash into the crowds with his wallet in her hand.

"Oh no you don't."

Angeal took off at a easy run, but he had trouble keeping the girl in his sights as she ducked and wove between people like an expert, while Angeal had to be careful he didn't knock anyone down. . He quickly lost sight of her when she darted down between two buildings, nearly a block ahead of him and he feared that he would never see his wallet again. His fears were realized when he reached the alleyway and found it empty.

"Little scamp..." he muttered, while doing a detailed search of the dank, narrow alley in hopes that maybe the thief had dropped it, but no such luck.

At the end, the alley intersected into another alleyway, equally dark and narrow and Angeal decided against exploring further. The tramp could just have his wallet, it wasn't worth traipsing around the underbelly of the city looking for. With a heave and a sigh, Angeal turned and headed back out onto the main street and back to the city circle. With some relief, he noticed several adults and children with backpacks coming from one street across the rotunda. That, he decided, must be where the school was located.

After following the trickle of people with children, Angeal found himself outside the source of the little kids; a dark steel building, scrapped together by the people for a school. Dark, yes, but the children seemed to give it it's own light and life.

"Angeal!"

Pulled from his thoughts, Angeal looked around and spotted Marlene standing on steps in a little blue and brown dress, waving and smiling to him. He waved back and waited for a truck to go past before striding across the street to her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, looking up and him while slipping her little smooth hand into his big rough one.

"I came to walk you home."

Marlene beamed, "Thank you. Cloud used to come get me once and a while, but he doesn't anymore...it's scary walking home sometimes." she confided, hopping down the steps.

Angeal nodded, glancing down at her hand gripping his, "That's why I came to get you. Tifa told me you walked home alone..."

"Are you going to stay for a long time?" Marlene asked, as they started down the street together, Marlene skipping in between Angeal's longer strides.

"Would you like me to?"

She slowed a little bit and fell silent, pondering the question and Angeal watched her a little bit bemused at the look of grave seriousness on her face. She finally smiled and looked up at him,

"Yes. You're nice and Tifa likes having you around. Tifa's strong but...sometimes she needs someone to lean on too..."

"I see..." Angeal said with a frown, "And what about Cloud?"

"I think Cloud is scared of something. So he runs." she stated, "Tifa says she doesn't know what she can do to make him stay home. She loves him, I can tell."

Angeal nodded and wondered at the little girls perception of things not seen; he found it rather remarkable. She would probably be a good source of information if he ever didn't want to ask Tifa or Cloud something.

"Does your hand hurt?"

"What?"

Marlene gave his bandaged hand a squeeze. "Does it hurt?"

"A little but not so much that I notice."

"I overheard you and Tifa talking...We should go to Aerith's church together and tend the flowers." she said, tilting her head up to smile at him.

Angeal looked down at her, "Aerith must have been a very special person."

"She is." Marlene stated. "I know she's still watching over all of us from the Lifestream."

"I'm sure she is."

Marlene nodded and gripped Angeal's hand a little tighter as they crossed a street, glancing up occasionally at her guardian and smiling at her own little private thoughts. The gray clouds broke for a moment and let a stream of bright sunshine down into the city where it glinted off the metal buildings and shattered into a thousand fragments. Angeal paused to look up at the rarely seen sun and thought of the warm Banoran summers where you could bask in the sunlight for months and when you were tired of that, you could sit in the cool grass under an apple tree and listen to the locusts buzzing and Genesis being dramatic over some epic injustice of his life.

Angeal fought back a smile and snorted to himself at the recollection of Genesis being dramatic and Marlene looked up at him quizzically.

"What are you thinking about?"

"My best friend. I was remembering how over the top he could be sometimes." he chuckled.

"Over the top?"

Angeal paused to think of a way to explain it to her, "You know how sometimes grown women over-exaggerate things?"

Marlene frowned a little, "I think so. Like sometimes when they get cranky and say they feel like they're going to die and everything that goes wrong is everyone else's fault?"

"Exactly." Angeal laughed, "He was like that sometimes. But he was from a well to do family and a little bit spoiled. Genesis liked getting his own way."

"I'm glad that Tifa and Cloud don't have lots of money. I think though...if they did, they would use it wisely and help other people and buy things that they really needed. Cloud would buy Tifa a new washing machine cause he feels bad that the one she has now doesn't work very well. And that would make Tifa happy. Maybe Cloud could stay home more too..."

"You care a lot about them don't you?"

She nodded and adjusted her grip on his hand, "They're my family."

"Do you have any friends at your school?" Angeal asked, feeling that the family subject was closed with her statement.

Marlene fell silent then slowly shook her head, "Not really. I really like my teachers though! They're nice, but..."

"But?"

"The other children aren't very nice...because I don't have a regular family like they do. But some of them only have one parent and even the ones with normal families and money...well, they are never very happy. I overhear them talking about how their parents argue. Cloud and Tifa never argue, they just have quiet discussions."

Angeal frowned, "The other kids don't like you because you don't have a normal family?"

"Well..." Marlene drug the word out, "and they tease me because I live at a bar."

"Ah...I see." He rumbled, pondering the cruelty of children. "Does Tifa know about this?"

Marlene looked up quickly, "No. Please don't tell her though! I don't want her to worry or anything. Promise you won't tell?" she begged him with big eyes.

"Marlene...Tifa should know if the other kids are teasing you."

"You know though! I can come to you right? That way Tifa doesn't have to worry about anything, right?"

Angeal looked down at her and gave an exasperated sigh, "Fine...you can come to me. I won't tell Tifa."

Marlene beamed and hugged his leg quickly, "Thank you Angeal!"

Angeal felt slightly whipped and sighed as he opened the door to the bar for her, wondering how he had suddenly become the champion and confident for a little girl.

"Tifa, I'm home from school!" Marlene called, letting go of Angeal's hand to walk behind the counter and into the kitchen. She soon returned with a puzzled frown, "Where's Tifa?"

Angeal shut the door behind him and glanced around, "Maybe she's upstairs?" he suggested, getting the impression that it was unusual for Tifa to not be downstairs when Marlene came home.

Marlene nodded and dropped her book bag on a barstool before running upstairs calling for Tifa and Angeal could plainly hear her looking in all the rooms. He walked over to the counter and glanced around to see if there was a note of any kind saying she had left for some reason or another.

"She's not here..." Marlene said, coming back into the bar quietly with a concerned look on her face. "She's always here..."

"I wouldn't worry. She probably just had to run out for a moment." Angeal said warmly, "Do you have any way to get in contact with her?"

The little girl nodded as she climbed up on a stool, "She has a phone...we could call her..."

Angeal sat down beside her, "Well, lets wait a little bit and if she doesn't come back, then we will call her, ok? Do you have any homework to do?"

"Yes, I have some." she said, reaching over for her bag and pulling her books and pencils out, "I'll work on it right now."

"Ok." Angeal nodded, turning around to lean against the counter. He had a nervous feeling in his gut but pushed it down and got up to get a glass of water.

A half hour passed quietly; Angeal found some old rags and cleaned his make-shift weapon while Marlene worked on her homework. Once she was finished, she padded over to Angeal, clasping her hands behind her back.

"Can we call Tifa now?"

Angeal glanced up at the clock and nodded, "I think it's been long enough. The phone is upstairs, right?" he asked, setting his weapon aside and folding the used rag.

"Yeah. Tifa's number is programmed in already." she said, waiting for him at the base of the stairs.

"Alright." Angeal nodded, following her up, watching as they entered Cloud's office and Marlene speed dialed Tifa's number.

Marlene crinkled her brow, "It's just ringing...she isn't answering it..."

***Insert evil laugh here***


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **And here we have the ninth chapter. I would have had it done sooner, but I got...well...sidetracked with writing an Assassin's Creed fic, which I may or may not publish. I'm not sure, since it's an OC fic and I havn't written one of those in..._years. _Anyways, such is my excuse for not finishing this sooner. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. No Angeal this time...I wanted to mainly focus on what had happened to Tifa. Angeal will be back with Marlene in the next chapter.

Thank you all for your reviews, they always make my day and keep my writing.

**Disclaimer: I own the storyline. So nah.**

**Chapter 9**

_~Earlier that day~_

_Upstairs, the phone started to ring, "The list is on the fridge in the back, take some money from the till. I need to answer that." Tifa said quickly, hanging the rag over the faucet and running upstairs._

Tifa had been hoping that Cloud would call her that day, to tell her he had gotten to Kalm alright. Of course he had never done so in the past so why would he start now, but one could always hope, couldn't they?

'Hello, Strife Delivery Service.' She had to say it, just in case it wasn't Cloud.

A rather gruff voice crackled over the line, 'We have your little girl. If you want her back, come to the east side of the slums and come alone.'

Tifa's heart jumped in her chest for a moment at the man's words, 'Let me talk to her. Prove you have her.' she said calmly.

The line, however, went dead leaving her without an answer and unsure about the credibility of the caller, whether or not they even had Marlene. She set the receiver down and grabbed her fighting gloves from the back of her skirt, then ran downstairs hoping Angeal was still there. She sighed at seeing he had already gone and paused in the middle of the bar to think over what to do. The east side of the slums was a rather big area and they hadn't given her a time to be there. It wasn't a very well thought out kidnapping, even if they didn't have Marlene. What would they want with Tifa anyways?

But if they did have Marlene, Tifa would have to do something right away. She couldn't call Cloud and hope he would check his voicemail and come home. She couldn't wait for Angeal to return either. Mind made up, she strode out the door and turned for the slums, forgetting her phone and neglecting to lock the front door, fortunately for Angeal. After about a block of steady walking, Tifa moved into a easy jog which made her legs tingle as the blood started to move faster. She took a run every morning, just to stay in shape, so the trek to the slums would be no problem for her. Once there however. . .

She shook her head and turned down a less peopled street, allowing her to move faster without dodging so much. They could have easily grabbed Marlene on the way to school but why wouldn't the man give her any proof of even having her? Tifa skittered around a garbage bin and hopped over a passed out drunk as she took a narrow alleyway to another street. She knew Edge almost like the back of her hand, for she was always changing her running routes and in doing so, learned the city.

An hour and a half had passed by the time she slowed to a wary walk on the edge of the eastern slums, eyeing piles of rubble for anything large and hungry. She finally stopped in the middle of a squatter colony, choking slightly on the smell and the smoke from the ramshackle hovels and piles of decaying garbage. Tifa had no idea where to go, where to look...maybe the kidnappers were going to find her. A prickle along the back her of her neck made her keep moving-it wasn't safe to just stand around, no matter how good of a fighter she was. The people that lived (if it could be called living) in these areas were tough but also desperate. They would sell anything of value they could get their hands on and Tifa had heard rumors of human trafficking and harvesting and selling black market body parts. She shuddered and kept moving, avoiding the lifeless gazes that followed her. The hair on the back of her neck prickled again and she glanced over her shoulder but saw nothing or no one following her. She stiffened her posture and kept her head up in a aggressive stance, clenching her fists until the leather squeaked and continued on her way.

"And here we go."

"Let me do it."

"Rude...you won't hit her hard enough."

"You'll hit her to hard."

Reno rolled his eyes as he stepped out into the street, "Stay here."

Rude sighed and looked away, twitching as he heard a muffled _whack_, then a soft flump as Tifa slumped to the ground, courtesy of Reno's EMR.

"Hey Rude, come help me here...she's heavy."

"Hm." was Rude's reply as he stepped out onto the street and neatly gathered Tifa's limp body off the dirty street. There was no way he was letting Reno carry her.

"She's bleeding. You hit her to hard."

Reno shrugged and headed back to the empty lot where they had landed the helicopter, leaving Rude to follow behind muttering apologies to Tifa for this. He had wanted no part of kidnapping his secret crush, but didn't really have much of a choice. Rufus had been quite adamant about that, even though neither Reno nor Rude had any idea what their boss was planning. Some Shin-Ra lackey had made the phone call and then Reno and Rude had been dispatched to 'pick her up'.

Rude was still puzzling over Angeal Hewley. His research had shown that Angeal was indeed dead, although the documents he had found could be wrong. But if that were the case, where had the First been for five years and why had he suddenly shown up now? No doubt Rufus was already plotting someway to get him back into the Shin-Ra fold but with Angeal staying with Tifa and that lot, it was hard to say what they had told him about Shin-Ra...and then there was that encounter at the coffee shop where it had seemed like he had no clue who they were.

Cradling Tifa with one arm, Rude hopped into the helicopter and slid the door shut then settled back into the seat while Reno took off, heading back for the new, under-construction Shin-Ra building.

Under Reno's capable hands, they reached were was Rufus was waiting without any hitches and the man in white strode out to meet them as soon as the engines were turned off. Rude was reluctant to get out and hand Tifa over to his boss, unsure of what he would do to her but duty demanded that he get out with Tifa in his arms.

Reno hopped out and swaggered over to Rufus, "All done Boss."

"She appears to be less than conscious." Rufus stated dryly as Rude joined them.

"He hit her to hard. She needs medical attention." Rude explained dryly.

Reno tch'ed and Rude gave him an icy look from behind his sunglasses. The two had been together long enough, that Reno didn't have to actually _see_ the look to know when it was being given. Rude's looks were rather powerful when they needed to be.

Rufus turned and strode back to the entrance of the building, "I will leave her in your hands for now until she regains consciousness. Inform me when she does." he stated.

_~Later~_

Tifa awoke with a groan and fumbled her hand to her head, probing gently and frowning at the strange feeling of cloth about her head followed by the weird sterile smell that accompanied said cloth.

Slowly, she sat up and blinked a few times to rid her eyes of the fuzziness and then looked around her surroundings. Beneath her was a rather tacky, burnt orange couch, which for all it's ugliness was undeniably comfortable. The room was white and gray with those awful flickering industrial lights that schools, government buildings and hospitals had a fondness for using. Once the weird sterile smell dissipated, she could smell coffee and something sweeter...doughnuts perhaps. Odd though, her hearing seemed to be a bit muted and she gave her head a gentle shake to try and clear it. Something deep rumbled close by, like a voice and she turned to face the noise.

"You're awake." Rude stated, setting down the gun magazine he was looking through, having seen Tifa sit up and shake her head.

He watched her through his sunglasses as she turned and stared at him; no thanks to Reno's overly hard hit, her hearing was no doubt a bit off and vision was probably fuzzy. It would clear and thanks to his bandaging job (he didn't trust Shin-Ra doctors with her), she would be in fine form soon enough.

"Where am I?" Tifa asked, not yet able to discern who the large black and brown person was talking to her, although things were getting clearer by the second.

"Shin-Ra."

Rude watched as her entire visage shifted into a tense coil, like a snake ready to strike. An angry, defensive, or even scared Tifa was a force to be reckoned with.

Rude's voice finally registered in Tifa's mind and she relaxed...slightly. He was still the 'enemy', although not as much as Reno or Rufus.

"Where's Marlene. What have you done with her?" Tifa asked, swiftly standing up, only to fall back down onto the couch.

"We...don't have Marlene. We never did." was the simple reply.

Tifa continued to stare in his direction until he cleared up, like one of those tacky allergy medicine commercials. He was watching her calmly, expressionlessly, like he did everything.

"So it was a trap." she stated bitterly, rubbing the back of her head and flinching when it hurt.

"Sorry about your head..."

What was this? An apology? Out of a Turk?

Tifa blinked and wasn't sure what to say, so she hit him with another question.

"Why am I here? Is this about Angeal?"

Rude wanted to pursue _that_ topic but knew he shouldn't.

"I have to take you to Rufus soon."

Typical Turk answer, dodging the question completely.

Tifa looked around the room again, since her vision was about back to normal. It appeared to be some sort of a break room, presumably in one of the Shin-Ra buildings that were under-construction...where ever those were. She turned back to Rude,

"Where's Reno?"

Rude shrugged one shoulder, "Out. He hit you." as if that would somehow help Rude's case or garner Tifa's forgiveness for kidnapping her.

Ah. Well that was handy to know...least she knew now who to hit harder. Reno always annoyed her anyways. She looked around again and noticed the door...no chance of making a run for it, since Rude was between her and the door. Besides, she had no clue where she was or how to get out of the building. All there was really to do was wait...wait and see what Rufus wanted with her.

"What is this about Rude?" she tried again.

"I don't know."

Tifa sat back with a sigh of resignation; Rude was like trying to get answers out of a brick wall.

Rude swallowed his pride, "Would...you like a cup of coffee?" he really should be taking her up to Rufus now...but what Rufus didn't know wouldn't hurt him...


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: ***bows low* Forgive me, my dear readers for taking so very long to update this. I just sat down and pounded out this chapter and its a bit short, but its better than nothing, right? Also forgive me if Elmyra seems OOC, I don't know much about her, so I tried to keep her short and sweet. I hope you enjoy this long awaited chapter and hopefully I will do better with updating in the future. *gives brownies to all*

**Disclaimer: I don't own anyone in this story except the random no name people that pop up here and there. Squeenix owns them all. Sadly.**

**Chapter 10**

Angeal glanced at the clock again for what seemed like the fiftieth time and sighed.

"Is there anyone I can take you to Marlene? I don't want to leave you here while I go search..."

Marlene pulled herself away from the window and to were Angeal was sitting, then nodded up at him,

"Elmyra can watch me!"

"Elmyra?" he questioned, picking Marlene up and sitting her on his lap. Even in the short amount of time that he had been there, he was already very fond of the little girl.

"Mhm, she's a friend. I've stayed with her before."

Angeal thought about it for a moment and drew the conclusion that if Tifa and Cloud had trusted Marlene with this woman before, then he could as well.

"Alright. Do you have a bag or something?"

She nodded.

"Go put some things in it for overnight, just in case you have to stay and I'll take you, then go look for Tifa, ok?"

Marlene nodded and slid off his lap, "Okay." she walked away, then turned and looked back at him. "Angeal?"

He raised his eyebrows and gave her his full attention, "Yes?"

"I know you'll find Tifa." she chirped, then turned and ran upstairs to pack.

Angeal couldn't help but chuckle and wonder at the faith of a little girl.

A short while later found them outside Elmyra's home, Marlene holding Angeal's hand and Angeal knocking on the door, his make-shift sword on his back. The door opened and Elmyra blinked in surprise at the large man who Marlene was clinging to, then glanced at the little girl for an explanation.

"Marlene...?"

Marlene detached from Angeal and gave the older woman a hug, "This is my friend, Angeal."

Angeal dipped his head in greeting, "Ma'am." he said politely. "I hope you don't mind the intrusion...Marlene needs a place to stay."

"Please...come in. Where's Tifa? Is everything alright?" Elmyra asked, stepping aside from the door to let them into her home.

"Tifa's missing..." Marlene said woefully, before Angeal could stop her. "Angeal's going to look for her."

"Oh I see...I see. Well, you're always welcomed here Marlene." she said, hugging the little girl and turning to Angeal, "She can stay as long as necessary. I hope you can bring Tifa back to us.."

"Thank you for your hospitality. I must be on my way...time is running out." Angeal replied, stepping back outside, "Be good Marlene...good day Ma'am."

"Bye Angeal.." Marlene whispered, watching the door close.

Once outside, Angeal stepped back onto the street and pondered his first course of action. First, he would have to head back to the bar and close it and possibly he could get a number from phone that would help. He was certain that the phone call she had received before he had left had been the start of the current situation. Then he would have to call Cloud and inform him of what had happened...he knew his way around better than Angeal did at the moment, although the ex-SOLDIER was learning fast. He turned down the street and moved into a light jog, there was no time to be wasted and he had memorized the route from the bar to Elmyra's as they were walking it. It wasn't long before he was back at the bar, shutting the door behind him and locking it.

He moved upstairs into the office where the phone was and after a moment of playing with it, found the 'last call received' function and quickly scribbled down the number that the mechanical voice told him. Once done, he found Cloud's number and dialed, looking calmly out the window as it rang...and rang...and rang before finally the voicemail came picked up.

"Cloud. This is Angeal. Tifa went missing today. Marlene is at Elmyra's. I am going to start searching, return as soon as possible." With a nod, he hung up, brows furrowed. The man really should answer his phone.

Two tasks out of the way, Angeal set to his third and final task; changing his clothes. He had noticed the looks he got from the older population and credited to his uniform. Shin-Ra wasn't a welcome thought and no doubt seeing the SOLIDER uniform brought up bad memories. He was thankful he had been able to find and retrieve some of his old clothes...they were a bit dusty but that didn't matter. Quickly, he took off the weapon and unhooked his shoulder paldrons and leather suspenders, shed his shirt and pulled on a black tee shirt, then unbuckled his pants and changed them for a pair of loose canvas pants. Then he reattached the suspenders and paldrons and replaced the weapon, along with his boots. Moments later, he was out the door, locking it as he left and heading down the street to start his rather vague search.

_Edge Desert_

Cloud pulled to a stop next to Zack's grave and pulled his phone out. It had ran as he was leaving the city but he hadn't felt like picking it up. His deliveries had all been in Edge that day and with them all done, he had found himself heading out of the city. With a sigh, he put the phone to his ear and grimaced at the sound of an annoying telemarketer...quickly he deleted it and moved onto the next, his eye brows lowering, then eyes growing wide as he listened to Angeal's short and to the point message. As soon as it ended, he closed the phone and pocketed it, hurriedly turning Fenrir back on and preparing to take off, glancing at Buster Sword for a moment. It seemed to call to him, in the poor shape it was in.

'_Take it Spiky. Angeal would want his sword back.'_

"Zack?"

'_Take it. I don't need it...'Geal does.'_

"But...Zack..." Cloud whispered, glancing up at the sky for a moment, before reaching over and pulling Buster Sword out of the ground. He remembered that Angeal had been Zack's mentor and that the sword had been given to Zack by him...Yes...Angeal should have his sword back.

He put it across his back, grunting at the weight; Tsurugi wasn't nearly as heavy, then turned Fenrir and sped back towards Edge, his heart in his throat, cursing himself for not being there. Tifa wasn't the type of person just to vanish...she would put up one heck of a fight if someone tried to hurt her or take her. She must have gone out, he reasoned. If something had happened at the bar, Angeal would have been there and even though he had never seen the man in action, he could sense he was a force to be reckoned with.

The wind whipped his hair around and blew dust in his face as he pushed the bike for more speed, the engine whining in protest. The city limits were soon passed and he slowed down to a civilized speed, maneuvering the streets and people to the bar. The bar was, as he had figured, empty and locked. Finding Angeal was the next course of action but it wasn't hard. He asked a few people if they had seen a man of his description and had pointed him in the right direction. Several blocks later, he found Angeal striding purposely down the street, heading in the direction of the slums.

Downshifting and applying the breaks, Cloud slowed and pulled up beside Angeal, who at the sound of the bike had turned and stopped. His eyes, however, were not on Cloud. They were fixed on the lichen covered, dented, dull edged Buster Sword on Cloud's back. At the look on his face, Cloud wanted to crawl under a rock.

"My...sword."

"Yeah...I...thought you'd want it.." Cloud murmured, handing it over and keeping his gaze averted.

Angeal gently took Buster and ran his palm down the flat side, brushing dirt off, a mournful expression on his face which turned angry after a moment. He turned on Cloud.

"Who is responsible for this disrespect? I told Zack to take care of it."

Cloud carefully kept his eyes lowered, "I...I am..."

"Look at me." Angeal said and Cloud did.

"Zack, I presume left Buster Sword in your care. How did it end up in this state?"

"I...left it...to mark where Zack...died.." he replied softly, struggling to keep his eyes on the older man's face.

"I see." Angeal simply said, training his finger down the blade to test the sharpness and found it painfully dull with chips in the once smooth and perfectly honed edge. "We need to keep moving..."

Cloud nodded in agreement and listened quietly as Angeal briefed him on the situation, a plan forming in his mind, mentally putting together a list of people who would want to hurt Tifa or would hurt Tifa to get to him.

"You said you have the number that called Tifa?" he asked, once Angeal was done speaking.

Angeal handed Cloud the piece of paper that he had written the number down on and watched him as he dialed it, absently running his hand up and down his beloved Buster sword, lecturing Zack under his breath.

Somewhere in the Lifestream...Zack giggled.

Cloud snapped his phone shut with a small sigh, "Not picking up. I suggest we try Shin-Ra. If anyone is doing something dirty around here...they know about it...or are involved in it."

"What reason would they have for taking Tifa?" Angeal asked, having his own ideas, but wanting to see if Cloud understood them.

"To get to me...or you."

"I agree. Shin-Ra it is." Angeal replied.

Cloud sighed, "Easier said than done...I'm not sure where they are..." he looked at the ground.

"I see. I believe however, if we start looking, they will come to us."

_Shin-Ra_

Rufus looked up from his desk as Tifa entered with Rude behind her. She looked ticked off, understandably so and she skewered Rufus with her wine colored eyes.

"Such an expression does nothing for you, Miss Lockhart." Rufus said, steepling his fingers together.

"What do you want so badly that you would go so far as to kidnap me, Rufus?" Tifa carefully kept the anger out of her voice but not off of her face.

"Now now...I tried reaching you the nice way." he motioned with one hand to Reno who was standing by the wall. "But I believe you told him to leave."

"Answer the question."

Rufus smirked. "I've been hearing things...and seeing things. Ghosts from the past."

_Angeal._

"Then maybe you should see a good shrink." Tifa spat, already sick of his games.

Rude cracked a smile for a second and Rufus gave them both a deadpan expression.

"How is it that a dead SOLIDER came to be at your little...establishment? I know both he and Cloud went to the old Shin-Ra building...broke in, in fact."

Tifa crossed her arms over her chest, "I don't have to tell you anything."

"Don't you care about Marlene? You wouldn't want anything to happen to her...would you." Rufus purred.

Tifa gave a little start but quickly regained her composure. "You don't have Marlene. You're bluffing." she stated.

"Do you know that for sure?"

Truth be told, Tifa didn't know for sure. "She's safe. No one can harm her."

Rufus could see that he wasn't getting anywhere...yet, and he sighed softly, waving his hand to the door,

"Take her to solitary."

Rude's eyes widened behind his glasses and he wanted to protest, but couldn't. Tifa gave Rufus a defiant look as Rude placed his hand on her shoulder and lead her away, Reno bringing up the rear.

"Reno."

"Yo." He turned back to Rufus.

"Find the girl."

"Sure thing."


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: **Look! An update! Short chapter is short, but better than no chapter, yes? Next one will be longer, I hope and next time we'll get to see another character come in, someone who's already been in the fic but I don't think anyone caught it~ Thanks to crimsonturk and Willowfur for your reviews and to everyone who faved or added to alerts. Made me very happy~ Please enjoy and thank you for reading.

**Disclaimer: Don't own Angeal, Tifa, Rude or Cloud. I do own the slum kids and the vermin. (Not saying much, is it?)**

**Chapter Eleven**

After having agreed on where to start searching, Angeal headed to the slums, a rough drawn map in his pocket, courtesy of Cloud and the Buster Sword safe on his back. He hated having to actually use the sword but considering the situation and the condition it was in, it would have to be used when the occasion arose.

He paused and drew the map from his pocket and glanced at it. It wasn't the best map in the world but he had seen much worse. Often recruits would come to him for advice on maps for their classes and he wasn't sure if squiggly lines and unintelligible writing counted as a map. The corner of his mouth twitched upward. He had remembered something else...something seemingly unimportant but meaningful to him none the less.

"Hm.." he mused, turning down a street that would lead him towards the old Midgar slums.

As he walked, his mind went back to what Cloud had said about the sword, something that hadn't processed at the time.

"_I...left it...to mark where Zack...died.." _

Zack was dead. His pupil, his puppy, the up-beat kid that you couldn't help but like, no matter how annoying or excited he was...was dead; returned back to the Planet.

Angeal sighed heavily, "I'm so sorry Zack...I wasn't there for you.." he whispered before gently pushing the thought into the back of his mind and turning his attention to the matter at hand.

Ahead of him, was the edge of...Edge and beyond he could see the ruins of Midgar. The Edge Slums sat right on the border, spilling over into old Midgar. Angeal 'hmph'ed and continued on his way, referring back to the map once more. He wouldn't need to look at it again, three times was plenty for his mind to have the imaged saved for instant recall. The buildings started to dwindle in size and frequency; shacks, run down hovels and dangerous looking old stores, some of the taller ones tilting drastically, looking as though they would tumble over at the slightest breeze.

In an empty lot by the road, a group of small children were playing with a ball, kicking it back and forth between piles of rubble and trash. A little girl sat off to one side, holding a tiny kitten and watching the others. Angeal sadly shook his head thinking about how easy it would be to take the little girl...no one would know or notice. It was a sad existence. He had grown up poor, but poor in the country was so much better than poor in the city.

He moved towards them, trying to look the least threatening that he could...which wasn't easy. The kids stopped their game and eyed him as he approached, ready to bolt at the slightest wrong movement and Angeal stopped before he entered their danger zone.

"I'm looking for some one who might have passed through here." he said, keeping his voice neutral.

One of the older boys, maybe about twelve, broke away from the group and moved closer, dark eyes guarded.

"Yeah? Wuzz they look like?" he slurred, tucking dirty hands into his two sizes to small pants.

"Dark brown hair...shoulder length, black tank top, black short skirt, boots."

Angeal watched as the boy moved back to his group and they conversed among themselves for a moment before the boy returned, shaking his head.

"Nah, we ain't seen 'er."

"Ah...well...thank you anyways." Angeal said, turning away and heading back towards the street. She may not have even been in this part of town or some this way. Maybe Cloud was having better luck..

He hadn't walked very far when something small and warm grasped his fingers and tugged.

"Huh?" he stopped in surprise and turned around, looking down.

The little girl with the kitty looked up at him with wide brown eyes and stammered something. Angeal knelt and put on his 'kind' face.

"Yes?" he asked gently.

"I...I saw her..." she whispered shyly.

"You saw my friend? Where at?"

She hugged her kitten close and pointed down a street. "She was going t-that way..."

Angeal nodded and stroked the kitten's head with one finger, "Alright...thank you for your help." he smiled a little, "Hurry back to your friends."

He got a tiny smile in return before she turned and trotted back to her friends and he watched her go, making sure she reached them safely before he headed down the dismal street that the girl had pointed down.

"Tifa, what were you doing down here alone?"

_~Shin-Ra~_

Tifa ran her hands through her hair and glared at the door. Solitary confinement was indeed very...solitary. The room was tiny and was equipped with a hard cot that was bolted to the steel-crete walls a sink and a toilet. Fortunately she did have privacy; the cell lacked windows and the door was solid with only a small peek hole that opened on the other side. She stood and stepped to the sink and splashed water on her face, gathering her thoughts. Rude had failed to take her gloves from her...whether intentionally or not she didn't know, but it gave her some advantage. The door wasn't _to_ thick but she didn't know how many guards there were on the other side of the door and if they heard her punching through the door, they would be ready and waiting for her on the other side.

Above, there was an air vent, bolted to the ceiling, which one could just barely reach by standing on the cot. Tifa sighed and looked down at her ample chest...there was no way she could fit through the vent. Being well endowed was a pain in the butt...and the lower back. She whirled as the peep hole was opened and a scent reached her nose, her stomach growling and the smell of hot food.

"I brought you pizza." Rude said quietly and a narrow slot in the middle of the door opened as a pizza box slid through.

Tifa moved to grab it and opened it quickly, taking delight the smell and sight of hot pizza.

"Thank you." It was the least she could do...Rude seemed to be a nice enough guy who was honestly sorry any of this had happened.

He made a low sound and was gone again, his shoes clicking as he walked away. Tifa frowned a little and sat on the cot with the pizza, picking a slice up and taking a bite. It had been quite a while since she had even had pizza and she remembered that she hadn't eaten anything before leaving Seventh Heaven. At the realization, she felt even hungrier.

As the pieces in the box grew less in number, she noticed writing in pencil on the bottom of the box and frowned, moving a few slices out of the way to read it.

_Guards change out in one hour. Clock across your cell. Keep track._

"Clock?" she said to herself, setting the pizza box aside and moving to the door. The peep-hole she found, had been left open and there, across the hall from her...was a clock.

Returning to the cot, she sat and estimated how much time had passed since the message had been written to her getting it. None the less, with the peep hole open, she would be able to keep track of the guards. If Rude had written the message, then he would probably be helping in other tiny ways and maybe she would be able to escape. She eyed the door, where the slot was in the middle; that would be a weak place, as the slot bisected the door nearly in half...

_~Edge Slums~_

Angeal made his way gingerly through a rubble pile, having had no luck at all with his search. He suddenly paused and looked at the ground curiously, then scrambled up a tall heap of steel-crete and looked back down. The dirt and dust had all been blown away in a circle, pushed from a central point.

"Helicopter...well isn't that just strange.." he muttered, jumping down and heading to what looked like some sort of chop shop on the other side of the rubble piles where some men where hanging around.

"Tell me about the helicopter that was here." he ordered, looking down at them with brows lowered threateningly.

"Heh dude...what helicopter?" one sneered, taking a swig from a brown bottle.

"Yeah man, we don't know nothin'."

Angeal's jaw twitched and he pulled Buster sword from his back and leveled it at them. He had no problem with threatening low life, worthless scum.

"Tell me what you know."

They laughed, albeit a bit nervously. "What are you dude, some SOLIDER wanna be?"

His jaw twitched again and he stepped forward, bringing the tip of Buster against the closest man's neck, point biting into flesh and the mako in his eyes glowing. They stopped laughing and the man swallowed, leaning away from the blade.

"O-ok...it was some dudes in suits."

"Description."

"Bald guy, dark glasses...and a red head." spoke up one of the other guys.

Angeal lowered his blade a little and nodded. Turks. He remembered them from the coffee shop encounter.

"Anything else you care to share?" he rumbled.

"T-they paid us to keep our mouths shut...and when they came back, they were carrying a girl."

"Yeah that's right. Chick had huge knockers if you know what I'm saying."

Angeal narrowed his eyes at the vermin and stepped back. "Which way did the helicopter go."

They all pointed back towards Edge and Angeal turned wordlessly and walked away, slinging Buster sword back onto his back and leaving the quivering cretins to their devices, mentally loathing how low humanity could sink and the things people would do for money.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: **So, I was hit with a burst of inspiration tonight. Mostly due to the two reviews I recieved the last couple of days, so, thank you Alexia the Hedgehog and lucian87. This is another fairly short chapter, even though I said it would be longer, but I hope you all enjoy it none the less. I apologize for Yuffie...I'm not very good at writing those kinds of characters so I hope she's not to terribly out of character.

I am considering doing a Christmas one shot with Angeal and Cloud, Tifa, ect. So, tell me what you guys think in comments, whether I should do it or not or what you might like to see in said ficcy.

**Disclaimer: Don't own. Squeenix does. Sadly. (*wonders if they would let me borrow Angeal for Christmas .*)**

**Chapter 12**

Cloud's search had been far less productive and by the time the sun was setting, he was heading back to Seventh Heaven, hoping Angeal had had better luck. He was feeling desperate again, useless, unworthy of even being around since he hadn't been there for Tifa; hadn't been there when she needed him. The bar came into view and he slowed Fenrir to a low rumble, parking by the door and dismounting while pulling a key from his pocket to open the door.

He paused in surprise as he opened the door and found the lights on and a slender figure spinning around on a bar stool.

"Spikey...whoa..." Yuffie jumped off the stool and froze as the room continued to spin.

"Yuffie...what are you doing here?" Cloud shut the door and refrained from asking how she got in. He didn't care to hear about her 'awesome ninja skills'.

She grinned, "I was in the area. What's going on? Where's Boobs?"

Cloud's shoulder's slumped, "Missing..." he murmured, then frowned at the sight of a wallet on the counter.

"Yuffie. Where did you get that." he asked, advancing.

She quickly backed up, "Ah, heh heh. I found it!"

"Thief." he accused, quickly grabbing it and flipping it open. "...this is Angeal's."

Yuffie eyed the door, "What do you mean Tifa's missing?" she asked, quickly changing the subject.

Cloud pocketed the wallet, "Mm...trying to find her.."

"Oh.." her bright face darkened a little, "WELL! Why are we standing here and not looking for her!"

"I have been...no luck..." he sighed, dropping his gaze to the floorboards but looking back up suddenly as the door swung open.

"Cloud. Shin-Ra has her." Angeal stated as he strode in, then narrowed his eyes at Yuffie. "You."

Yuffie made a bolt for the door but grossly underestimated Angeal, figuring a man of his size wouldn't move so fast and got collared; Angeal easily lifting her from the floor and giving her a sharp look.

"You stole my wallet." he stated.

She grinned, "Yes, yes I did!"

"Angeal." Cloud tossed him his wallet and Angeal caught it in his free hand.

"Stealing is dishonorable." Angeal said, dropping her and pocketing his wallet. "I take it you are friends, Cloud?"

Cloud nodded, "Yuffie Kisaragi, Angeal Hewley."

Angeal and Yuffie eyed each other and nodded civilly before Angeal turned to Cloud with the pressing business at hand.

"I tracked her to the slums. I learned that the Turks picked her up there and they paid some men to keep their mouths shut about it. I'm thinking that the phone call she received told her to go there and she was ambushed once there."

"What would golden-boy want with Tifa?" Yuffie asked.

Cloud glanced at Angeal, "Either to get to him...or me."

"Why him?"

Angeal cleared his throat, "I am...or rather was...SOLDIER First Class...I am supposed to be dead."

Yuffie's eyes narrowed, "You fought in Wutai."

"Ah...I don't...really remember much of my life before...I apologize."

"He's on our side now. Helping us find Tifa..." Cloud said, sensing the tension in the air.

The young ninja 'hmphed' and folded her arms. "So how do we find Tifa or Shin-Ra?"

"They will come to us, I believe." Angeal stated, glancing at Cloud.

Cloud nodded, "Yuffie...Marlene is with Elmyra...would you go there and just...keep watch? Just in case..."

Yuffie nodded, "Sure thing Cloudy! You can count on me!" she grinned, bouncing towards the door and bolting outside.

Angeal watched her warily until she was out the door and then moved away from the entrance, positioning himself so he was facing it. "Ready to be off then?" he asked.

Cloud sighed and nodded, "If you are, then yes."

"Very well then."

_Shin-Ra _

_Earlier That Day_

The hour had dragged by quickly in solitary confinement, Tifa having nothing better to do than sit, pace and keep her eye on the clock across the hallway. As the time ticked closer to the hour, she pulled her gloves on and did a few warm up stretches to stay loose and to warm her muscles up for whatever might lie ahead.

The hour hand soon ticked to the hour and Tifa stood by the door, carefully watching as the guard left his post and headed down to the door at the other end of the hall. She didn't know how much time she had, so as soon as the door closed, she bunched herself, took a breath and launched her fist into the door, channeling all her energy into the blow. The door creaked and groaned in protest as a hole was punched through it, widening the receiving slot. Once more, Tifa readied her body and mind and slammed into the metal again. The hole open enough, she slid her hand out and slipped open the simple lock.

Stepping out, she looked down the hall at the door the guard had left by, then turned and looked the other way to the second door. The new guard would likely come in the same way the other had left, so she sprinted towards the second door and pushed it open enough to glance out and check her surroundings. No one was in immediate sight, so she took the plunge and slipped out. She found herself in some sort of break room and quickly made for the door leading out of it, freezing as it swung open and a guard stepped in, cup of coffee in his hands.

Instantly, her foot made contact with his face and he slumped against the wall, coffee spilled down his shirt and on the wall, Tifa bolting out the door almost before he hit the floor. Being mindful of the security cameras, Tifa ran down the hall to an intersection and paused, glancing behind her, then around the corner which proved to be yet another drab grey hallway but it had more doors and she could see a window at the other end. A window which would be able to tell her where she was in relation to the rest of Edge.

Checking once more for people, she started down the hall, nearly jumping out of her skin when an alarm started to blare...they had discovered her missing. Throwing caution to the winds, she sped down the hall to the window and paused only long enough to peer out at desert. Apparently the building was right on the edge of...Edge and the desert and having taken along enough look, she ran on, staying on the outer wall...she was only five stories up and if the need arose, she could dive out a window.

Ahead, she spied a stairwell but groaned as she heard the heavy foot steps of guards or soldiers and the hushed commands being given on the other side of the door. As the door opened, she threw herself through a door, hoping no one was on the other side. Fortunately, she found herself in a broom closet and listened with bated breath as the troop thumped their way down the hall. As the sound grew less, Tifa cracked the door open and peeked out, then fled for the stairwell upon seeing the troop gone. Above, the alarm continued to howl.

Tifa scurried down two flights of stairs until she heard the door being thrown open below her and men's voices. There was no where to hide except a service door on the landing a few steps away. She sighed and kicked the lock off, pulled the door closed behind her and glanced around with a grimace as loud noises assaulted her ears. The door crashed open and she darted behind a boiler, catching a glimpse of a service elevator back behind the AC unit. The men didn't check the room to carefully and were soon off again, yelling orders into radio's and making to much noise. Tifa breathed a sigh of relief and jumped away from the hot boiler, heading for the service elevator.

_Rufus' Office_

"What do you mean...she's escaped?"

"Apparently, Sir, she punched her way out of the cell. We have detected nothing on our security monitors and the building is in lock down." Tseng replied. "Every effort is being made to retrieve her."

Rufus narrowed his blue eyes, "Has Reno completed his mission yet."

"I have not had contact with him since he left Sir."

"Very well. Inform me the moment you do."

"Yes Sir."

Rufus waved him off and waited until the Turk had left before standing and walking to the edge of his office, staring out of the floor to ceiling window towards Edge. It was a short, non-descript building only a few miles from the outskirts of Edge; anyone who saw it would never guess that it was one of Shin-Ra's new buildings. He turned from the window and sat back in his leather chair, clicking his computer and re-watching the footage from the old Shin-Ra building.

"Strife and Hewley..." he mused, pondering the event. Deep down inside, it worried him a little.

If Hewely had returned, did that mean any others had as well? Sephiroth perhaps?

_Elevator_

Tifa was sure that she had to have reached ground level by now, since when she had entered the elevator, she had only been three floors up. The elevator kept descending though and Tifa felt her gut tighten in apprehension. Suddenly, it clanged and jolted to a stop, the door sliding open and Tifa stepped out only to freeze as a weird blue green light met her eyes, radiating from massive glass tubes.

Mako.

She quickly turned to get back on the elevator, wanting to be away from this place which was obviously a laboratory, memories of what places like this had done to her friends running through her head. The elevator doors wouldn't open and she couldn't find a control panel anywhere. Her gut clenched as she spun around, hearing clicking footsteps coming into the large room. From where she stood, she was relatively unseen in the shadows and her fists clenched as a man in a white lab coat came into view, scribbling on a clipboard, greasy black hair, pointy face and glasses.

Hojo.


	13. Chapter 13

**Updated chapter. Now I can finally work on finishing chapter 14 and hopefully get it up very soon.**

**Chapter 13**

Hojo paused in his scribbling and looked up, pressing his glasses further up his nose. He felt something decidedly _off_, something that didn't belong. He knew his labs, whether old or new like the back of his hand and knew instinctively when something was missing...or when something was added.

Tifa shrunk back into the shadows and breathed as softly as she could as Hojo glanced around, praying he wouldn't see her. She had never actually seen the scientist before but from the little Cloud and Vincent had spoken about the man, she knew right away it was him.

"Hmm..." he mused, peering back down at his clipboard and making his way to several mako tanks, one with an experiment inside.

His back now to her, Tifa stepped out a fraction to try and see where he had come from. There had to be another way into this place other than the inconvenient service elevator. She chewed her lip in silent frustration as all she could see was more lab equipment, blocking any view. He was a fragile looking man and for a moment she pondered simply running out and smashing his head in. But men like Hojo simply didn't die in any easy manner. More than likely, he'd hear her and she'd end up an experiment.

She shuddered at the thought and started creeping against the wall, trying to stay hidden amongst various machines and gadgets. Tifa was thankful that it wasn't a well lit lab. The only lights were a few surgical lights hanging over important things; the mako tanks, several tables, one an operating table of sorts equipped with straps, presumably to hold the poor souls down, and a large work station with flickering computer monitors. The rest of the room was clothed in dusky darkness...and to this Tifa clung.

_Elmyra's_

Yuffie moved down the street towards Elmyra's home with her usual bounce and enthusiasm, humming a little tune to herself, plotting something devious that she could get a laugh out of. A low rumble ahead of her made her change her tune and she dashed ahead, recognizing instantly the throb of helicopter blades. As she raced around the corner, the helicopter rose into the air, Elmyra looking up at it hopelessly as Marlene was held struggling by Tseng. Yuffie skidded to a halt, Conformer in her hand, ready to throw. Reckless as she was however, she knew throwing the weapon would put Marlene in danger.

"You can't hide from me, the Super Awesome Ninja Princess Yuffie!" she yelled after them, brandishing her weapon in the air in anger before turning to Elmyra.

"What happened!"

Elmyra tore her gaze from the sky and looked at Yuffie. "Tseng came into the house while I was in the back...I heard Marlene yell and by the time I got back out, they were already out the door..."

"I'll get her back! You can count on it!" Yuffie crowed, flashing a reassuring grin and racing off after the helicopter, determined to keep it in her sights and with any luck, run across Cloud or Angeal in the process. Not that she needed their help or anything.

_Somewhere in Edge_

Angeal and Cloud moved side by side through the streets, questioning random people about a helicopter and gradually working their way towards the edge of the city. Cloud rode on Fenrir at an easy speed and Angeal kept up beside him with no trouble at all. Neither said much, not needing to speak with words to communicate what needed to be done to continue their search and neither of them were terribly great conversationalists, Cloud especially. Something had been plaguing Angeal's mind however.

"How did Zack...die?"

Fenrir rumbled to a stop and Angeal turned to look at Cloud, who was staring down at the pavement quietly, thinking before he answered.

"He...died a ...hero. Mm..."

_"Unattainable dreams, are the best kind."_

"A hero...that was always Zack's goal. I'm glad he reached his goal...even if it was in death."

Cloud nodded and fidgeted with the gas tank cap, "He saved me..."

Angeal smiled a tiny smile to himself, "Come on, we should keep moving." he said, reaching over and placing a mentor-ly hand on Cloud's shoulder before moving on down the street.

With a grunt of agreement, Cloud followed after him, putting the bike in gear and following after him. They both froze a moment later however and cast their eyes into the sky, looking for the unmistakable sound of helicopter blades and a moment later the Shin-Ra helicopter roared over their heads.

"Come on!" Cloud shouted over the roar, revving his bike and taking off after it.

Angeal followed at a subdued lope...even if they got out of sight his enhanced hearing would allow him to track them for a little ways.

"Hey! Wait up!" yelled a voice from behind him and Angeal slowed and turned to face the in-coming ninja with the yellow and white thigh highs and booty shorts.

"That jerk! He didn't even hear me! Of all the nerve!" she hollered, waving her arms around in the general direction of where Cloud had gone.

"My apologies. He's in a hurry...as am I."

Yuffie gave him an irked look, "What! And I'm not! Those Shin-Ra jerks kidnapped Marlene! Before I even got there to save her!"

Angeal, who had been filtering her pointless blather out, zeroed in on the words 'kidnapped' and 'Marlene' and stiffened,

"Then why are you standing here wasting time?" he asked, before turning and taking off.

"HEY! WAIT!" Yuffie bolted after him, her lithe ninja self easily keeping up with his fast lope.

Angeal slowed enough to turn a corner, his nostrils picking up the fading scent of Fenrir's exhaust, a smell he had already filed away in his mind. Fortunately, these narrow back streets were fairly un-crowded, allowing the ninja and SOLIDER to move freely and quickly.

"We're heading for the outskirts. Is there anything out there building wise?" Angeal asked as they ran, glancing at the young ninja at his side.

"Just some slums and newer buildings...oh and the wasteland."

Angeal nodded and turned another corner, "Cloud has slowed. Why don't you use your ninja skills to get on top of these buildings and see what you can see." he suggested, stroking her ego to his advantage.

Her eyes widened, "Hey! Good idea!" she exclaimed, dodging to the side and running up the side of the building to the roof.

Assured that she could keep up just fine, Angeal kept moving, now able to hear Fenrir's rumble probably three or four streets ahead. Up above him, Yuffie kept up on the rooftops, scaling the tallest one she found and stopping to look around.

"They're heading out to the desert!" she yelled back and flailed her arms, "Off that way!"

Glancing up, Angeal saw the direction she was pointing and kept it in mind to tell Cloud once he reached him. Above, the sky was starting to lighten as the tall buildings got less in number and unfinished construction took over the landscape, allowing dusty beams of light to filter down through scaffolding and structure skeletons.

"Cloud!" Angeal called as he finally spotted the bike, now moving at a slower speed to maneuver construction debris and workmen.

Cloud turned and stopped, waiting for Angeal to catch up. "Hop on."

"Yuffie is up on the rooftops, she said the helicopter is headed out to the desert." Angeal said, as he climbed onto the back of the bike uncomfortably.

"Yuffie?" Cloud questioned.

"The Turks kidnapped Marlene, she was following them."

"Damn." Cloud growled, a flicker of fear running through him as he gunned the bike and picked up speed, sending caution to the wind and skillfully guiding Fenrir around all and any obstacles.

Ahead the street petered out into the desert, the warm sunlight shining down the dark narrow street like the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, the rectangle of light getting bigger and bigger as Fenrir raced towards it.

"Coming down Cloud!"

Angeal glanced up to see the young ninja running above them and braced as Cloud slowed a bit to accommodate the girl who was suddenly leaping out ahead of them, falling, falling, then landing easily behind Angeal as they passed under.

"Woo hoo! Bet you couldn't do that!" Yuffie yelled in Angeal's ear, gripping his shoulders while leaning against his back.

Cloud was glad Fenrir was such a sturdy bike; Angeal was quite a weight on the back of it, along with Yuffie...although Yuffie didn't weigh much, even with her Conformer.

"Here we go." Cloud murmured, Angeal only catching his words because he was pressed so close against him...uncomfortably he might add with Yuffie digging her little claw like fingers between his shoulder muscles.

They roared out of the city and into the blinding brightness of the desert, a billow of dust flying up behind Fenrir as they sped after the helicopter. Cloud squinted under his goggles and made out a building through the heat waves, a rather small building by Shin-Ra standards.

"There."

Angeal narrowed his eyes into the distance and nodded, "I see it."

"Hey guys! I see a building! That's where we're headed! Look out Shin-Ra jerks!" Yuffie crowed, pointing over their heads and bouncing a little.

Angeal was glad he was such a patient man. Genesis would have slapped her off and _Firaga-ed _her by now.

_Shin-Ra_

Tseng stepped out onto the roof from the shadow of the door and watched as Reno brought the helicopter down on and hopped out, adjusting his goggles on his forehead.

"Hey you know I was followed, right boss?"

Tseng moved to the helicopter and opened the door and caught Marlene securely by the hand, pausing while she made the short jump from the helicopter to the ground before turning to Reno.

"I'm well aware Reno."

Marlene peered out towards Edge and the trail of dust heading for them, "Cloud..."

"Come." Tseng said, pulling her along, though not un-gently.

"Are you holding Tifa here?" Marlene asked, peering up at Tseng as they walked.

"Yes."

"Oh...that's not very nice...Cloud and Angeal are very worried."

"Yeah well the big boss wants them here, so it's all going to plan." Reno chirped as he held the door open for Tseng and Marlene.

Tseng shot Reno a threatening look as he passed by, then paused as the loud alarm assaulted his ears and Marlene clamped her free hand to her ear and pressed close.

"Reno, find out why the alarms are still going." Tseng said, backing up to wait on the roof while Reno mock saluted.

"Sure thing." he replied, before bounding down the stairs and out of sight.

Rubbing his forehead, Tseng led Marlene over to the shade of the helicopter and put her to sit on one of the wheels silently, ignoring her curious eyes.

She had no where to run here, so he let go of her hand and turned away to look out towards the black bike. He moved to reach into the helicopter and produced a pair of binoculars and trained them on Fenrir. He was mildly surprised at seeing three people crammed on it, half expecting to only see Cloud. But Angeal was a bonus apparently...the annoying young ninja he placidly skipped over...Princess of Wutai or not.

His PHS buzzed and he flipped it open, answering in silence. "I ran into Rude, he said the chick escaped and he's getting the alarms turned off like right now." Reno chirruped.

"Thank you Reno." Tseng droned before flipping the PHS shut and turning to look at Marlene. He felt no obligation to tell Reno that he already knew Tifa was missing, so long as the alarms were turned off.

"Come on." he said, holding out his hand.

"Is the noise gone?" she asked, standing but not reaching out.

He nodded.

She chewed her lip, then put her hand in his and let him lead her inside, casting one last glance towards the desert and whispering Cloud's name.


	14. Apologies

I apologize deeply for not updating this story in so long. I've been busy working on my novel as well as busy with work, but I've not forgotten about it.

I want to thank all my new readers and subscribers for reading, as well as all my old readers for staying with me. It really does mean alot to me and I promise to get back to updating this as soon and as often as I can again.

Thank you very much.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: **And here it is! The new chapter. It's a little shorter than most...but hey, its better than nothing right?I start my summer job first week of July, so I will _try _to have another chapter up before then, because for about a month or so, I will be super busy and super tired.

In the mean time, I hope you guys all like this chapter and I really am sorry about taking so long to update.

Enjoy and leave a comment if you feel so inclined~

**Chapter 14**

Cloud skidded Fenrir to a stop a short distance away from the building that they were now facing and jumped off, gathering Tsurugi's blades from their holders and sliding them each into the holsters on his back. Yuffie jumped off Angeal's back with a whoop and struck a pose as she looked up at the building, coughing discreetly as a wave of dust from Fenrir caught up to them and Angeal rolled his shoulders as he dismounted, trying to push away the soreness from the ninja's talons.

"Rufus is probably here." Cloud stated, turning to face them, "I'll go find him and locate Tifa. Angeal, you and Yuffie find Marlene."

"Right! Leave it to us!"

Angeal nodded, "Let's try not to make to many casualties." he added.

Cloud hummed in agreement, "If all goes well, we'll meet back here."

With that, Cloud turned and headed for the squat building, shoulders squared and looking determined.

"Come on." Angeal said to Yuffie, striding off towards the other side of the building. Cloud was looking like he was going in through the front doors, so Angeal opted to taking a less direct route, hoping to lessen the chance of confrontation.

"What! Wait up!" Yuffie yelped, running after him. "Why are we going this way!"

"They know we're here but even so, it would be best to take a more discreet route."

Yuffie gaped "But what fun is that?"

Angeal spun and clapped his hand over her mouth. "Silence please." he said, turning back and stalking a side door and pressing his ear to it.

For once in her life, Yuffie couldn't find a suitable retort or even the desire to say anything, so, she kept her mouth shut and satisfied herself by glaring holes in Angeal's broad back as he jimmed the side door open and peaked through it.

He nodded back at her and motioned for her to come on, that it was safe to proceed then slipped through the door and waited while she ninja'ed in before pulling the door gently shut.

"We need to head up and try and intercept them with Marlene." he said softly.

"Right!" Yuffie whispered enthusiastically.

Together, they crept up the stairs and paused at the top, both looking down the hallway to check for people. Across the hall, was another set of stairs while the ones they were on, turned and continued up along the outside wall. Angeal pointed to the second set of stairs,

"I'll take those, you continue up these."

"Ok! Leave it to me!" she nodded, slinking around the corner and continuing upwards while Angeal stepped across the hall.

Meanwhile, Cloud was storming the front desk and heading for the elevators, a trail of stunned guards in his wake. Quickly he dashed for the elevator and thumped on the button pointing up, then waited, taking the moment to take a few deep breaths and pray that Tifa was safe or at least unharmed. After what seemed like forever, the elevator doors dinged open and he jumped inside, smashing on the up button again. Cloud sighed as he slowly started moving upwards. The stairs would have been faster...

At last, the elevator dinged to a stop at the third floor and the doors juddered open. Cloud carefully stepped out, glancing up and down the hall for enemies. A group of guards were already running towards him and he crouched into a stance so he could launch into combat the moment they hit.

As soon as he crouched, the guards halted uncertainly. It was clear they were nervous about facing the lone swordsman after he had taken out so many of their own, even though he had only knocked them out, not killed them. He couldn't help but inwardly sigh. A stand off was just a waste of his time. Shin-Ra in the old days would have had better protection than this. The guards didn't seem to be wanting to make the first move, so Cloud charged them, knocking five or six down with a quick swing of his sword, the flat of the blade rattling their heads inside their helmets.

The rest of them turned tail and ran, firing off a few shots over their shoulders which Cloud blocked easily. Once they were gone, he paused and looked around. This was the uppermost floor, so Rufus' office had to be close, probably in a corner of the building where he could have windows to see out of.

He moved forward at a quick pace, reaching the end of the corridor and pausing. Only two doors and one he was sure was a stairwell, while the other was at the end. Without hesitation, he gave the door a hard kick at the handle and sent it flying open so hard it bounced off the wall and half closed.

Cloud moved into a defensive stance as Reno headed for him, but was stopped by a soft word from Rufus. Cloud narrowed his eyes a bit and moved forward, keeping his guard up, keeping an eye on Reno while giving Rufus a dirty look.

"What?" Rufus chuckled as he steepled his fingers.

"Where is she." Cloud's voice was low and held thinly veiled anger.

"I'm afraid we don't know."

Cloud's jaw ticked, "Why did you kidnap her!" he exploded, eyes glowing with a surge of mako.

Reno snickered, "Why do you think huh?"

"Reno." Rufus said shortly.

"Angeal..." Cloud murmured.

Rufus smirked, "That's right."

_Stairwell_

Angeal thundered up the metal stairs two at a time, keeping one hand on the hilt of his sword as he neared the door at the top. Idly, he wondered where Yuffie had gotten herself to and assumed she was probably lost. She didn't seem terribly bright to him.

He paused as he reached the door and pressed his ear to it, closing his eyes and focusing on the sounds on the other side.

There.

"Mr. Tseng..."

That was Marlene's voice and shortly after the soft monotone of Tseng replied. Angeal didn't sense anyone else and put his hand on the cool metal knob and turned it slowly until the door shifted open.

Suddenly he heard a yell, a crash and then two gunshots.

Yuffie.

Angeal pushed the door open and charged the scene, his mind quickly registering that the man, Tseng was busy fending off Yuffie's attacks and he made for Marlene, who had ran from the helicopter to get away from the fight.

"Marlene." he hissed as he scooped her up and she gave a little gasp.

"Angeal!" she whispered back, clinging to his neck as he moved back to the door, motioning to Yuffie so she knew he had Marlene, before yanking the door closed and locking it.

Yuffie saw his retreat and yelled as she back flipped off one of the helicopter rotors and plummeted towards the ground, as Tseng took another shot at her.

Tseng knew there was no point in pursuing the lithe ninja and turned around with a sigh. They had planned their attack very well...the girl as a diversion while Hewley grabbed Marlene from behind. It was no great loss though. They had Angeal and Cloud there, so Marlene wasn't _really_ needed to be kept hostage any longer.

Now to set about finding Miss Lockhart...

_Basement_

Tifa sat with her chin on her knees in the dark behind some old equipment and watched as Hojo went about his daily routine, praying and hoping that he would leave for some reason, but so far...it seemed like he had no need at all to leave his little work space. As it was, there was no way out except to jump out and punch a hole into the back of his head...and Tifa was seriously contemplating it if he dared bring out another little rabbit to experiment on.

Her heart clenched and ached at remembering the few things Cloud had told her about his and Zack's ordeal in this sort of environment and she eyed the mako tanks hatefully.

"Professor, there's a delivery for you in the ante-room." a lackey poked his head in the lab and Hojo grunted, writing a few more notes down before heading for the door.

Finally! Tifa quickly stood and started moving as well...if nothing else, to move closer to the door to make escaping easier should she not be able to make it out. As soon as Hojo was out of sight, she dashed into the open and to the door, pausing a moment to peek into the next room, finding it happily empty.

Her sprint across the room was halted as the other door started to open and Tifa panicked for a moment before taking a leap and sliding under a desk, biting back a hiss as her bare legs raspberried on the waxy flooring. A lackey moseyed in, whistling under his breath as he flipped through a folder, oblivious to the panting young woman under the desk. Tifa heaved, trying to still her excited breathing and stay quiet. She was no where near being out of shape, but the sudden burst of action and adrenaline, coupled with the fear of being caught, made her heart race.

Inwardly she groaned as the man sat down in a office chair and wheeled closer, his nose still buried in the folder as he shifted his legs under the desk. Tifa pressed her self back against the wall, staring at his legs and shoes. She knew she was in a bad...maybe even a worse situation than before. All he had to do was stretch and he would bump her with his feet...

This could take awhile...


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: What's this!? An update!? So it is. I've not done very well on working on this...*fails* But here is an update none the less. I hope everyone likes it. Huge shout out to all the new readers! Virtual cookies for you guys. Reviews would be nice, lol.**

**Anywho, we'll see if I do better at updating sooner. Enjoy. **

**Disclaimer: Yeah I don't own it. Wish I did. But I don't.**

**Chapter 15**

After what seemed like an hour, Tifa heard the door open a bit and a monotone voice telling the lackey he was needed in another part of the lab. The young man yawned and pushed away from the desk and sauntered out, leaving Tifa to let out a long breath and scoot out carefully, groaning as her stiff joints protested. She paused for a moment and listened, then moved to the lab door and locked it. Hojo couldn't suddenly burst into the room now anyways and with her mind more at ease, she stretched, letting her back pop and joints crack. Feeling slightly refreshed, Tifa headed for the outer door, pushing it open cautiously and holding her breath as she peeked around the corner.

The outer room looked something like a reception area, with a desk for a secretary and two chairs, one of which had a large box sitting in it. Seeing no one in the room, Tifa crept out and dashed for the door, then froze as it swung open.

Tseng didn't really expect Tifa to be in the labs since it was a hard place to just wander in to but he felt he should check anyways. Better him to check than Strife; Strife wouldn't hesitate in beheading Hojo. Not that Tseng could blame him...no one really liked the creepy scientist.

As he approached the door leading into the anteroom of the labs, his Turk senses tingled and he put his hand on the butt of his gun before pushing the door open. His eyes widened a fraction as Tifa froze in front of him with that 'doe in the headlights' expression on her face. It only lasted a moment though before it turned into something slightly more threatening and he found himself fending off the angry female martial artist. He was willing to step aside and let her go but she seemed bent on giving him a piece of her mind...or fist.

_Rufus' Office  
_

"What do you want with Angeal?" Cloud was getting annoyed with Rufus's ability to sidestep any questions he asked and Reno's constant putting his two gil's worth in.

Rufus chuckled, enjoying watching the play of emotions in Cloud's eyes.

"I just want to talk to him."

"I doubt that."

"Actually, I'd rather talk to both of you but..." he trailed off as the door slammed open a second time and Angeal walked in, carrying Marlene.

"Cloud!"

"Marlene." Relief flooded Cloud's voice and he gave Angeal a nod of gratitude.

"What's this all about, Shin-ra?"

Angeal wasted no time in getting straight to the point, his face a sea of calm and eyes betraying no emotion whatsoever. Rufus took him in before answering...he didn't remember the First Classes very well, only pictures or glimpses when he was with his father. It was easy to see however, why Angeal had been a First. He towered over Cloud like a giant; massive biceps twitching as he shifted, one hand resting on the sword over his shoulder. Marlene had since gotten down to hold Cloud's hand and Rufus figured the man had to have been like taking down a monster when he had presumably died.

"Our files indicated that you were killed in action, however, it appears that our files were mistaken."

"You kidnapped two innocents for the sake of correcting your files?" Angeal asked, his voice rumbling throughout the room.

"Of course not yo." Reno butted in, "See we're just having some problems and since -"

"Reno." Rufus said coolly. "There has been a unusually large uprising of monsters outside of Junon."

"Not interested." Cloud snapped.

Angeal folded his arms across his chest, "Go on."

Cloud looked up at him, "What? You're not seriously considering listening to this."

Angeal just gave him a calm, unruffled look and said nothing.

Rufus arched an eyebrow, "We are not asking anyone to return to Shin-Ra, however, as we do not have any capable troops anymore...you can see our predicament."

"What is at risk that you're wanting to protect?" Angeal asked.

"The monsters have been attacking the outskirts of the city." Rude said.

Cloud narrowed his eyes, "You have Mako reactors and the Sister Ray there."

Rufus smiled, "That is true, however monsters are not considered a threat to either of those.. We're merely trying to protect the citizens of Junon from further attacks."

"What's in it for us if we were to hypothetically accept?" Angeal asked, aware of Cloud's glare at him.

"We will reward you both handsomely."

"How handsomely." Cloud asked out of curiosity, turning his glare off Angeal for a moment.

"A thousand gil per monster." Rufus replied, resting his chin on his steepled fingers.

"What about compensation should one of us get injured."

"We will take care of any medical expenses should that happen."

Angeal gave a nod and turned, "We will consider your offer." he said, shoving Cloud out the door before he could protest, Marlene in tow.

"We still need to find Tifa." Angeal said as the door closed behind them and he started down the hallway.

"What the hell Angeal!? You can't just tell Rufus that _we _will consider working for him." Cloud exploded, storming after him.

Marlene ran after Cloud, still clinging to his hand and frowned, "Tifa wouldn't like you saying that Cloud." she chirped.

Angeal chuckled, "In any sort of negotiation, it's best to be polite and to never reveal your true intentions. While you may not wish to kill monsters for President Shin-Ra, it is something I used to do quite often for his Father. Besides which, I cannot allow monsters to kill innocent people, for pay or otherwise. The gil would simply be a perk of the job."

Cloud found he had no words for that statement and picked Marlene up to let her ride on his shoulders as they started down the many stairs. He remembered the things Zack had told him about Angeal and found that they were all correct.

"We can't all fit on your motorcycle, I will find another mode of transportation for myself and the ninja."

"I want to go with Angeal!" Marlene chirped and Angeal smiled to himself.

"And Marlene."

_Basement_

Tseng blocked punch after kick after combo over and over in hopes that the martial artist would wear down a bit and realize that he wasn't attacking back, however she seemed intent on beating him into a pulp and it was all rather counter-productive. Ducking as she took another swing at his head, he went into the offensive and landed a firm blow to her stomach and rammed her against the wall, his forearm pressing across her shoulders.

"Miss Lockhart, I am content to let you go if you will desist with this aggressive behavior."

Tifa socked him in the jaw for good measure and Tseng bore it patiently before stepping back and releasing her, "When you exit this room, turn left and follow the corridor to the end. It will lead you outside. Strife and Hewley are searching for you." he said, turning and walking away without another word or another look at her.

Tifa doubled over and clutched her stomach for a moment, before straightening and watching him go, mind whirling with questions that she couldn't make herself ask before he was out of sight. Cloud was looking for her. The realization hit her and she ran out the door, following Tseng's blunt instructions. The corridor seemed to stretch on for miles and her lungs were starting to burn as she hit the exit door and burst into the blinding sunlit desert; Edge shimmering like a mirage in the distance.

"Tifa!"

Squinting and looking around, Tifa saw Fenrir and perched on the back of it, Yuffie.

"I found you!" Yuffie yelled, shoving a candy bar back into the pocket of her short shorts and grinning like an imp.

Tifa was in no mood to argue with the ninja and made her way over to slump against the hot bike tiredly.

"Where's Cloud?" she asked.

"Inside looking for you I guess." Yuffie replied, swinging her legs and bouncing them off the back tire. "Did you know Cloud keeps materia in this thing?"

"Put it back Yuffie." Tifa said dryly, sitting up as the building gave a shudder and a transport truck rumbled out through a closed vehicle access door, Angeal at the wheel.

"Tifa!" Marlene poked her head out the window and waved as they pulled to a stop next to the bike.

Tifa's eyes went wide, "Marlene!"

Angeal got out and Marlene ran to Tifa, "Are you unharmed?"

"I'm fine, where's Cloud?" Tifa hugged Marlene close and looked up at Angeal worriedly.

Angeal grabbed a two way radio from the truck, "He's coming. Cloud, we have her." he spoke into it and a moment later, a window shattered and Cloud plummeted to the ground, landing in a crouch.

"Tifa. Are you alright?" Cloud asked, running up and stopping, looking over Tifa with worried eyes.

"Yes, I'm fine, let's get home." she said with a soft smile that Angeal noted and Cloud did not.

"Agreed." Angeal said, getting back in the truck and shutting the door, "Yuffie, Marlene, you're with me.'

Yuffie whooped and dove into the front seat and sat next to Angeal, only to be displaced by Marlene who squeezed between them both and Angeal laughed,

"We'll see you back at the bar." he said to Cloud as they pulled away and Yuffie started messing with the radio.

"Right." Cloud nodded, hopping on Fenrir and waiting to feel Tifa behind him before starting it.

She wrapped her arms around his middle as they pulled away and rested her head on his back, protected from the wind. The feeling of the rumbling bike and Cloud's muscles moving in his back as he navigated it was almost soothing in a way; a sense of security that was almost good as being in his arms, if he should ever think to hug her.

_"Highly unlikely."_ She told herself.

She closed her eyes and let the tiredness wash over her and Cloud noted when her body went lax against his back and asked more speed from Fenrir, anxious to get Tifa home to rest where she would be safe. A creeping doubt took hold in his mind, wondering just how safe she was there.

He hadn't been there to keep her safe, it was his fault. He shook his head firmly to dispel the thoughts, remembering things Aerith had told him to help with the doubts as they raced on towards Edge, passing the truck finally and giving Angeal a nod.

"Let's race them!" Yuffie loudly suggested and Angeal gave her a look.

"There is no reason to do so, besides which, this truck doesn't have enough power to catch his motorcycle."

"Yeah but you could try!"

"No, I couldn't."

Yuffie folded her arms, "You're no fun."

"Perhaps not, but fun doesn't always mean doing something dangerous." he said with a chuckle.

"You'd make a bad ninja. We thrive on danger!"

Angeal glanced down as Marlene's head settled on his thigh, sound asleep. "Yes, I would." he admitted. "I've been in my fair share of dangerous situations though and I can't say any of them have been particularly enjoyable."

Yuffie gave a snort and dropped the subject, feeling that she would get no where trying to argue with him.

He was almost as bad as Vincent! Although he was more talkative, she would concede to that.


End file.
